FMCSA seeks to expand Crash Preventability Determination Program

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to expand its Crash Preventability Determination Program.

According to a notice scheduled to publish in the Federal Register on Thursday, April 13, the agency “proposes modifying existing crash types to broaden eligibility, removing the distinction between direct and indirect strikes and differentiating some types for improved reporting and use of the data to identify ways to reduce crashes involving nonmotorists.”

The program, which FMCSA has been operating since May 2020, reviews 16 specific collision types and modifies information in the agency’s Safety Measurement System to distinguish not-preventable collisions from preventable ones. From May 1, 2020, to Dec, 30, 2022, more than 39,000 requests for data review were submitted to FMCSA. About 72.5% of the submitted requests were eligible, meaning they were one of the 16 crash types. About 96% of the eligible collisions were found to have been not preventable.

FMCSA’s proposal would add four crash types to the program “to expand the (program) to review even more crashes each year for preventability.” The proposed changes are expected to double the size of the program.

The four new crash types in the proposal:

1. A commercial motor vehicle was struck on the side by a motorist operating in the same direction.
2. A commercial motor vehicle was struck because another motorist was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot.
3. A commercial motor vehicle was struck because another motorist lost control of their vehicle. FMCSA reviewed many police accident reports that included this information but were ineligible for the program under the current crash types.
4. Any other type of crash involving a commercial motor vehicle where a video demonstrates the sequence of events of the crash.

A full list of proposed crash types can be found here.

How to comment

Once the notice is published in the Federal Register, the agency will accept public comments for 60 days. To make a comment, go to the Regulations.gov website and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2022-0233. LL