Roadway safety, FMCSA nomination focus of hearings

Following the recent announcement that fatality crashes increased by 10.5% in 2021, a House subcommittee will focus on ways to improve safety.

The Highways and Transit subcommittee will have a hearing titled “Addressing the Roadway Safety Crisis: Building Safer Roads for All” at 10 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, June 8.

“As chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, I am pleased to announce Wednesday’s hearing,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a news release. “According to an early estimate from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities reached an unacceptable 16-year high in 2021, making this hearing exceptionally timely.”

NHTSA estimates nearly 43,000 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year, up from nearly 39,000 in 2020. That is the most fatalities since 2005 when there were 43,510 deaths reported. Specific to large trucks, fatal crashes involving at least one truck went up 13%.

The roadway safety hearing will be streamed live here.

Witnesses scheduled for the hearing:

• Elaine Clegg, National League of Cities
• Shawn Wilson, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
• Ludwig P. Gaines, Washington Area Bicyclist Association
• Billy Hattaway, Fehr & Peers
• Cindy Williams, American Traffic Safety Services Association

Senate Commerce Committee

A Senate committee also plans to have a hearing on Wednesday, June 8, of special interest to the trucking industry.

The Senate Commerce Committee will consider the nomination of Robin Hutcheson as administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Hutcheson, who is FMCSA’s acting administrator, is expected to testify at the hearing, which also is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern.

President Joe Biden nominated Hutcheson in April to be the agency’s next permanent administrator.

Hutcheson has served FMCSA in the acting administrator role since January. She took over FMCSA’s acting administrator role from Meera Joshi, who announced in December she was leaving the agency to become a deputy mayor for New York City.

If Hutcheson is confirmed, she will become FMCSA’s first permanent administrator since Ray Martinez stepped down in October 2019. LL

Land Line’s Tyson Fisher contributed to this report.