FMCSA Creates Pilot Program to Determine Crash Preventability

In late July, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced it had established a pilot program which would allow carriers to potentially dispute who is or isn’t at fault in any of their drivers’ crashes. The program is accepting requests for data reviews (RDRs) as of August 1, 2017. However, FMCSA has specified that only certain types of accidents are reviewable and there is a strict process for the RDR that has to be adhered to. Specifically, the crashes that can be reviewed have to fall into one or more of the following eight categories:

1. When the CMV was struck by a motorist driving under the influence (or related offense); 

2. When the CMV was struck by a motorist driving the wrong direction; 

3. When the CMV was struck in the rear; 

4. When the CMV was struck while it was legally stopped or parked, including when the vehicle was unattended; 

5. When the CMV struck an individual committing or attempting to commit suicide by stepping or driving in front of the CMV; 

6. When the CMV sustained disabling damage after striking an animal in the roadway; 

7. When the crash was the result of an infrastructure failure, falling trees, rocks, or other debris; or 

8. When the CMV was struck by cargo or equipment from another vehicle.

In addition to meeting one or more of these categories, FMCSA will also attempt to "use the preventability standard in 49 C.F.R. 385, Appendix B: 'If a driver, who exercises normal judgment and foresight could have foreseen the possibility of the accident that in fact occurred, and avoided it by taking steps within his/her control which would not have risked causing another kind of mishap, the accident was preventable.'’’