U.S. Legislative Issues
CDC Study Measures Cost of Crashes
A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 2.5 million people visited the emergency room and more than 200,000 were hospitalized as the result of a crash in 2012 alone. The study also found that those crash related injuries totaled about $18 billion in lifetime medical costs. The CDC report comes after NHTSA released a study in June showing an $871 billion economic impact each year from crashes.
The CDC’s study can be found here (PDF).
Average Fuel Economy Hits Record High
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced average vehicle fuel economy has reached a record 24.1 mpg for the 2013 fleet, up 0.5 mpg from the preceding year. EPA attributed the improvement to automakers' "rapid adoption" of turbochargers and other innovations. Among individual manufacturers, Nissan led both in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in average fuel economy improvement.
NHTSA Begins Inquiry into Sudden Acceleration Claims
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into claims that certain Toyota vehicles can unexpectedly accelerate. The inquiry, which covers about 1.69 million Toyota Corollas manufactured between 2006 and 2010, will determine if a formal investigation is required. NHTSA is being hounded by Congress for what is viewed as the agency’s failure to use its full authority over automakers and its inability to figure out defect trends already widely identified by consumers. Toyota also settled a record breaking fine earlier this year with the Department of Justice over failure to disclose a similar 2009 sudden acceleration case sooner.
MCSAC & Medical Review Board to Joint hold Public Meeting
On October 27 and 28, the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) will hold its quarterly public meeting. On the 27th, the Medical Review Board will attend as a joint host, and the two groups will "identify concepts the Agency should consider in relation to Schedule II medications and their use by commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in interstate commerce."
During the second day, the MCSAC review a 3 year pilot program that allowed long haul Mexican truckers to operate inside the US beyond a 25 mile economic zone.
More information about the meeting, including an agenda, can be found here.
