FMCSA Launches Long-Sought Crash Preventability Program

Last Friday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) adopted its new Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP), something NRMCA has been fervently advocating for a number of years. The program allows drivers and carriers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), such as mixer trucks, to not be penalized for crashes that occur that are non-preventable. Since the inception of FMCSA’s mechanisms used to critique the safety of drivers and carriers, such as Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) and the Safety Measurement System (SMS), they have erroneously considered CMV crashes regardless of fault or preventability. After years of advocating for change in the way FMCSA records crashes, and FMCSA conducting a pilot program since 2017, it has now finally adopted a program that recognizes the daily realities of CMV driving. Under the new program and after following FMCSA’s four-step process for determination of a crash, provided it’s found to be non-preventable, the crash would be excluded from CSA and SMS, and not adversely impact drivers.

The CPDP will consider 10 separate crash types for eligible participation in the program, including:

• Struck in the Rear

• Wrong Direction of Illegal Turns

• Parked or Legally Stopped

• Failure of the Other Vehicle to Stop

• Under the Influence

• Medical Issues, Falling Asleep or Distracted Driving

• Cargo/Equipment/Debris of Infrastructure Failure

• Animal Strike

• Suicide

• Rare or Unusual

The new CPDP is effective immediately, with FMCSA poised to start reviewing eligible crashes.

Click here for more information on the CPDP, including a fact sheet, presentation and the Federal Register notice. You may also contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.