Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information on
Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems (Letter Report, 06/29/1999,
GAO/RCED-99-182).

Of the more than 42,00 people who died on the nation's highways in
1997--the latest year for which data are available--about 5,400 died in
crashes involving large trucks. This figure represents a 21-percent
increase from 1992, reversing a trend of decreasing truck fatalities
since the late 1980s. This recent increase in fatalities reflects, in
part, a 25-percent increase in the annual number of miles traveled by
large trucks since 1992. Although trucks are involved in fewer crashes
per mile traveled than are passenger vehicles, crashes involving trucks
are more likely to result in fatalities. In 1997, 98 percent of the
deaths from wrecks involving a truck and a passenger vehicle were
occupants of the passenger vehicles. Although no reliable nationwide
data exist on the causes of crashes involving large trucks, some data
indicate that passenger vehicle drivers' behavior is a significant
contributing factor to crashes. The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway
Safety plans to design and fund a study to obtain more detailed
information on factors that may contribute to crashes involving large
trucks. The Office has planned or undertaken several efforts to improve
truck safety. These steps include identifying high-risk carriers that
should be reviewed for compliance with safety regulations, educating
passenger vehicle drivers about how to share the road with large trucks,
and developing technology to alert truck drivers of the onset of
drowsiness. However, the Office's effectiveness is limited by (1)
long-standing data problems, (2) the length of time it takes to complete
activities, and (3) the unknown effect of its campaign to educate
passenger vehicle drivers about the limitations of large trucks.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-99-182
     TITLE:  Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited
	     Information on Causes of Crashes and Other Data
	     Problems
      DATE:  06/29/1999
   SUBJECT:  Highway safety
	     Transportation statistics
	     Public roads or highways
	     Safety regulation
	     Traffic accidents
	     Accident prevention
	     Motor vehicle safety
	     Trucking operations
IDENTIFIER:  NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System
	     OMCHS Performance and Registration Information Systems
	     Management Program
	     OMCHS Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Network
	     OMCHS SafeStat System
	     OMCHS No-Zone Campaign

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    United States General Accounting Office GAO                Report
    to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies,
    Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives June 1999
    TRUCK SAFETY Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information
    on Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems GAO/RCED-99-182
    United States General Accounting Office
    Resources, Community, and Washington, D.C. 20548
    Economic Development Division B-281646
    Letter June 29, 1999 The Honorable Frank R. Wolf Chairman,
    Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies Committee on
    Appropriations House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: Because
    of your concern about the increasing numbers of fatalities from
    crashes involving large commercial trucks (those trucks with a
    gross weight of at least 10,001 pounds), you asked us to examine
    the effectiveness of the Federal Highway Administration's Office
    of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in improving the safety of
    large trucks. Specifically, we examined (1) recent trends in the
    number of crashes involving large trucks, (2) the factors that
    contribute to such crashes, and (3) the Office of Motor Carrier
    and Highway Safety's activities to improve truck safety. Results
    in Brief                    Of the more than 42,000 people who
    died on our nation's highways in 1997 (the latest year for which
    data are available), about 5,400 died in crashes involving large
    trucks.  This figure represents a 21-percent increase from 1992,
    reversing a trend of decreasing truck fatalities from 1988 through
    1992.  In addition, from 1992 through 1997, the fatality rate-the
    number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled by large
    trucks-has remained fairly constant at about 2.9 deaths per 100
    million miles traveled after decreasing by 27 percent between 1988
    and 1992.  The recent increases in fatalities reflect, in part, a
    25-percent increase in the annual number of miles traveled by
    large trucks since 1992.  If this trend of increasing truck travel
    continues, the number of fatalities could increase to more than
    5,800 in 1999.  This estimated figure is substantially higher than
    the goal that the Federal Highway Administration established for
    1999 of reducing fatalities from truck crashes to below the 1996
    level of 5,142.  While trucks are involved in fewer crashes per
    mile traveled than passenger vehicles, crashes involving trucks
    are more likely to result in fatalities.  In 1997, 98 percent of
    the fatalities from crashes between a truck and a passenger
    vehicle were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Letter
    Page 1            GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
    Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 While no reliable nationwide
    data exist on the causes of crashes involving large trucks, some
    data exist on the extent to which factors such as drivers'
    behavior, vehicles' mechanical condition, the roadway, and the
    environment may contribute to these crashes.  These data indicate
    that passenger vehicle drivers' behavior is a significant
    contributing factor to crashes.  For example, in 1997,
    contributing factors related to passenger vehicle drivers were
    reported in 80 percent of crashes involving both trucks and
    passenger vehicles (these data are based only on fatal truck
    crashes and are not the result of thorough investigations of crash
    scenes).  To better tailor its activities to address the factors
    that are most likely to contribute to truck crashes, the Office of
    Motor Carrier and Highway Safety plans to design and fund a study
    to obtain more detailed information on such factors.  Because the
    factors that contribute to crashes do not vary significantly from
    year to year, the results of the study are estimated to be
    relevant for about 15 years. The Office of Motor Carrier and
    Highway Safety has undertaken a number of activities and plans to
    undertake others to improve truck safety.  These actions include
    identifying high-risk carriers that should receive reviews of
    their compliance with safety regulations, educating passenger
    vehicle drivers about how to share the road with large trucks, and
    developing technology to alert truck drivers of the onset of
    drowsiness.  While these activities address what are currently
    considered to be significant contributing factors to truck
    crashes, the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's
    effectiveness is limited by (1) long-standing data problems, (2)
    the length of time it takes to complete activities, and (3) the
    unknown effect of its campaign to educate passenger vehicle
    drivers about the limitations of large trucks.  For example, the
    Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's effort to identify
    high-risk carriers for safety improvements depends in part on
    having reasonably complete data on the number of crashes
    experienced by carriers. However, states did not report an
    estimated 38 percent of all crashes and 30 percent of the fatal
    crashes involving large trucks that should have been reported to
    the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in 1997. The Office
    has developed a draft safety action plan that describes 67
    activities that it believes have the greatest potential to reduce
    crashes and save lives. However, the results of these activities
    will not be evident for several years. In addition, the draft plan
    does not address whether the Department of Transportation has the
    resources needed to complete all of the activities, nor does it
    prioritize the 67 activities according to their potential to
    improve truck safety. Letter    Page 2            GAO/RCED-99-182
    Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646
    Background    The Department of Transportation (DOT) has stated
    that safety has always been the agency's most important strategic
    goal.  The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety (OMCHS),
    within DOT's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is responsible
    for, among other things, the portion of this goal related to the
    safety of interstate commercial motor vehicles. Under federal
    motor carrier safety regulations, an interstate commercial motor
    vehicle is one that is used to transport passengers or property
    between states and (1) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross
    vehicle weight of at least 10,001 pounds, (2) is designed to
    transport more than 15 passengers, or (3) is used to transport
    hazardous materials that require the vehicle to be placarded.
    OMCHS' activities include (1) issuing, administering, and
    enforcing federal motor carrier safety regulations and hazardous
    materials regulations; (2) gathering and analyzing data on motor
    carriers, drivers, and vehicles; (3) developing information
    systems to improve the transfer of data; and (4) researching new
    methods and technologies to enhance motor carrier safety.  OMCHS
    conducts many of these activities in conjunction with other
    federal agencies and states.  For example, OMCHS provides grants
    to states through the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program to
    support statewide commercial motor vehicle safety programs.  For
    fiscal year 1999, federal funding for OMCHS totaled about $160
    million, $90 million of which was for the Motor Carrier Safety
    Assistance Program. The number of interstate commercial motor
    carriers has grown rapidly during the past decade.  According to
    OMCHS' census of motor carriers, the number grew from 190,000 in
    1989 to about 490,000 as of March 1999, about a 160-percent
    increase.  Most of these carriers are small businesses- about 70
    percent of the carriers operate six or fewer trucks, while less
    than 1 percent operate more than 1,000 trucks.  The number of
    vehicle miles traveled annually by large trucks increased from 148
    billion miles in 1989 to 191 billion in 1997. Page 3
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 Fatalities From Large            The annual number
    of fatalities from crashes involving large trucks Truck Crashes
    Are                increased by 21 percent from 4,462 in 1992 to
    5,398 in 1997 (see fig. 1).  This result reversed a trend of
    decreasing truck fatalities in the previous 5-year Increasing,
    While                period, 1988 through 1992.  Also from 1992
    through 1997, the fatality rate- Fatalities per Mile
    the number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled by large
    trucks-has Traveled Have Leveled  remained fairly constant at
    about 2.9 deaths per 100 million miles traveled after decreasing
    by 27 percent between 1988 and 1992. Off Figure 1:  Fatalities
    From Large Truck Crashes and Fatality Rate, 1988-97 7,000
    7 6,000
    6 Fatalities 5,000
    5 4,000
    4 3,000
    3 2,000
    Fatality rate                2 (per 100 million truck miles
    traveled) 1,000
    1 0
    0 1988       1989     1990      1991      1992 1993           1994
    1995      1996      1997 Source:  DOT. While many factors may have
    contributed to the recent increases in annual fatalities, the
    upward trend in the number of fatalities reflects, in part,
    increases in large truck and passenger vehicle travel.1  The
    number of miles traveled by large trucks increased by 25 percent
    from 1992 through 1997, while the number of miles traveled by
    passenger vehicles increased by 13 percent.  If truck travel
    continues to increase at this rate, and nothing is done to reduce
    the fatality rate, the annual number of fatalities could exceed
    5,800 in 1999 and 6,000 in 2000 (see fig. 2).  FHWA has
    established a 1Passenger vehicles include cars, pickup trucks,
    sport utility vehicles, and vans under 10,001 pounds (gross
    vehicle weight rating). Page 4                   GAO/RCED-99-182
    Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 goal
    for OMCHS for 1999 to reduce the number of fatalities from truck
    crashes to fewer than 5,142-the number of fatalities in 1996.2
    This goal is substantially below our projected figure of 5,847 for
    1999. Figure 2:  Actual and Projected Fatalities From Large Truck
    Crashes, 1988-2000 Fatalities OMCHS' 1999 goal Sources:  DOT for
    1988 through 1997; GAO's estimate for 1998 through 2000. While the
    recent increase in the number of fatalities from crashes involving
    large trucks is a concern, only about 1 percent of all truck
    crashes reported to police in 1997 resulted in a fatality.  About
    99 percent resulted in injuries or property damage only.  The
    number of people injured in truck crashes in 1997 (133,000) was
    not significantly different from the number injured in 1988
    (130,000).  However, from 1988 through 1997, the number of
    injuries per 100 million miles traveled fell from 92 to 69.  In
    addition, the annual number of crashes involving large trucks that
    resulted in property damage only increased from 291,000 to
    329,000, while the number of these crashes per 100 million miles
    traveled decreased from 206 to 172. 2On May 25, 1999, DOT
    announced a long-range goal of reducing fatalities from crashes
    involving commercial vehicles, including large trucks, by 50
    percent over 10 years.  In the near future, DOT will develop a
    strategy for achieving this goal and will include all affected
    parties in its deliberations. Page 5                    GAO/RCED-
    99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-
    281646 In addition, for each mile that they traveled from 1988
    through 1997, large trucks were involved in fewer total crashes
    than passenger vehicles were. However, large trucks were involved
    in a greater number of fatal crashes per mile traveled (see fig.
    3).  The higher fatal crash rate for large trucks is not
    surprising, considering the difference in weight between passenger
    vehicles and large trucks.  When there is such a mismatch in
    weight between the vehicles involved in a crash, the lighter one
    and its occupants tend to suffer more damage.  In fatal crashes
    between a passenger vehicle and a large truck in 1997, 98 percent
    of the fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Figure
    3:  Comparison of Fatal Crash Rates for Large Trucks and for
    Passenger Vehicles, 1988-97 Fatal crash rate (per 100 million
    vehicle miles traveled) Note:  Rates for both categories include
    crashes between trucks and passenger vehicles. Source:  DOT. Page
    6                 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
    Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 OMCHS Needs Better  Current
    information, while limited, indicates that passenger vehicle
    drivers' Information on Factors  behavior is a significant
    contributing factor to crashes.  OMCHS plans to design and fund a
    study to obtain more detailed information on the factors That
    Contribute to                 that are most likely to contribute
    to truck crashes, and some states are Crashes Involving
    beginning to conduct more in-depth investigations of truck crashes
    to Large Trucks                       determine these factors.
    Current Information Points  While no reliable information exists
    on the causes of crashes involving to Passenger Vehicle
    large trucks nationwide, some information exists on factors that
    may Drivers' Behavior as a             contribute to these
    crashes.3  These factors include (1) factors involving Significant
    Contributing           drivers, such as excessive speed, fatigue,
    inattentiveness, and reckless driving; (2) factors related to
    vehicles' condition, such as worn brakes, bald Factor to Truck
    Crashes            tires, and improperly secured loads; (3)
    factors related to the road, such as the type of road and its
    design; and (4) environmental factors, such as bad weather and
    darkness.4  However, OMCHS does not know how many crashes are
    related to each of these factors because existing databases do not
    contain sufficiently complete information on contributing factors.
    Without this information, OMCHS cannot effectively tailor its
    activities to address the factors that are most likely to
    contribute to truck crashes. One national database contains
    information on factors that contribute to truck crashes:  the
    Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), maintained by DOT's
    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  Based on
    many sources of data, including reports prepared by police
    officers at crash scenes, FARS is considered a reliable source of
    information on all fatal motor vehicle crashes.  However, fatal
    truck crashes represent only 1 percent of all truck crashes.
    Furthermore, FARS does not rely on a thorough investigation of
    crash scenes to pinpoint factors that contribute most heavily.
    Despite its limitations, FARS has been used to estimate the number
    of fatal crashes related to certain factors.  Data from FARS
    indicate that factors related to passenger vehicle drivers
    contribute to more fatal crashes 3A contributing factor does not
    necessarily identify fault or the cause of a crash; rather, the
    presence of a contributing factor increases the likelihood of a
    crash. 4In addition, characteristics of truck companies (such as
    the form of ownership and company size), drivers' characteristics
    (such as age, training, and experience), and types of cargo (such
    as liquids) may be related to crash rates. Page 7
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 between a passenger vehicle and a truck than do
    factors related to truck drivers.  In 1997, factors related to
    passenger vehicle drivers were reported in 80 percent of the
    crashes, while factors related to truck drivers were reported in
    28 percent of the crashes.  Safety groups have questioned the
    validity of these data because truck drivers, who are more likely
    to survive the crash than passenger vehicle drivers, have more
    opportunities to tell the officer at the crash scene their version
    of how the crash occurred. However, a recent study found that in
    fatal crashes in 1994 and 1995 in which both the truck driver and
    the passenger vehicle driver survived, factors related to
    passenger vehicle drivers were cited in 74 percent of the crashes
    compared with 35 percent for factors related to truck drivers.5
    This finding provides some support for the hypothesis that,
    compared with truck drivers, passenger vehicle drivers contribute
    more to fatal crashes between large trucks and passenger vehicles.
    On the basis of data from FARS and several studies involving in-
    depth crash investigations, OMCHS estimates that another driver-
    related factor--truck drivers' fatigue-contributes to 15 to 33
    percent of the crashes that are fatal to the truck occupant(s)
    only.6  (From 1992 through 1997, about 14 percent of all fatal
    truck crashes were fatal to the truck occupant(s) only.)  OMCHS
    estimates that truck drivers' fatigue contributes to a much lower
    percentage-from 1 to 2 percent-of the crashes that are fatal to
    people other than truck occupants, such as passenger vehicle
    occupants or pedestrians.  The imprecision of these estimates
    partly reflects the difficulty of detecting drivers' fatigue after
    crashes occur.  Despite this difficulty, fatigue was identified as
    the number one issue affecting the safety of motor carriers during
    a 1995 meeting on safety attended by representatives from
    government, trucking associations, and safety interest groups.
    Some information also exists on the extent to which other major
    factors- vehicles, the road, and the environment-contribute to
    truck crashes. First, according to estimates in several studies,
    the percentage of truck crashes that are attributed to vehicles'
    mechanical failure ranges from 5 to 13 percent but could be up to
    20 percent for crashes in which the truck 5Daniel Blower, The
    Relative Contribution of Truck Drivers and Passenger Vehicle
    Drivers to Truck-Passenger Vehicle Traffic Crashes, The University
    of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Mich.
    (1998). 6Crash Problem Size Assessment Update:  Large Truck
    Crashes Related Primarily to Driver Fatigue, Office of Motor
    Carrier and Highway Safety (Jan. 1999). Page 8
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 driver is found at fault.  Second, noninterstate
    roads have more crashes per mile traveled than interstate highways
    because the latter are designed with more safety features such as
    median barriers and controlled access. Approximately 76 percent of
    the fatalities in fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred on
    noninterstate roads in 1997, compared to 59 percent of all truck
    miles of travel on these roads.  Finally, environmental factors-
    such as snow or darkness-can contribute to crashes. OMCHS Is
    Initiating an             Because of the lack of sufficiently
    complete and precise information on Effort to Improve
    factors that contribute to crashes, OMCHS recently began to design
    a Information on Factors That  database that contains more
    detailed information on these factors. Contribute to Truck Crashes
    OMCHS plans to provide funding to NHTSA to collect data on a
    national sample of crashes involving large trucks, including
    crashes resulting in fatalities, injuries, and serious property
    damage only.  OMCHS estimates that the database would take 2 to 3
    years to complete, at a cost of $2 million to $3 million. The
    American Automobile Association (AAA) recently proposed a
    separate, but similar, study to be designed by the Transportation
    Research Board.7  AAA believes that its approach allows the widest
    possible input from the traffic safety and trucking communities,
    while providing scientific objectivity and technical expertise.
    As in OMCHS' study, AAA is proposing that NHTSA conduct the crash
    investigations and collect the data.  AAA estimates that the study
    would take from 3 to 5 years, at a cost of about $5 million.
    According to OMCHS officials, the agency has begun work on its
    study and may modify its original plans by including input from
    other groups, such as research groups, during the design phase.
    Because the factors that contribute to crashes do not vary
    significantly from year to year, the results of the study are
    estimated to be relevant for about 15 years. Some states are also
    beginning to examine more closely the factors that contribute to
    truck crashes.  In fiscal year 1998, every state submitted an
    annual commercial vehicle safety plan to OMCHS that included the
    state's goals for improving truck safety and the activities the
    state will use to meet those goals.  Several states plan to
    conduct in-depth crash investigations to determine the prevalence
    of different contributing factors.  OMCHS developed a common
    format for conducting these investigations and is encouraging the
    states to use this format so that the data collected by 7Part of
    the National Research Council, the Transportation Research Board
    is a private nonprofit institution that conducts research
    addressing all modes and aspects of transportation. Page 9
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 various states will be compatible.  Michigan is
    currently the only state known by OMCHS to be implementing this
    format.  In addition, OMCHS has developed a training course on
    investigating large truck crashes, which will be available to
    state police officers.  The data collected by the police officers
    will be reported to OMCHS. OMCHS' Effectiveness  OMCHS has
    undertaken or plans to undertake activities intended to Is
    Hampered by Data                improve truck safety, such as
    identifying high-risk trucking companies for reviews of their
    compliance with safety regulations, educating passenger Problems
    and the Time  vehicle drivers about how to share the road with
    large trucks, and Needed to Complete                 conducting
    research on methods to alert truck drivers when they are
    Activities                         becoming fatigued.  While these
    activities-undertaken either directly or through grants provided
    to states-address what are currently considered to be significant
    factors contributing to truck crashes, many other factors affect
    the level of truck safety.8  However, OMCHS' effectiveness is
    limited by (1) long-standing problems with the data it uses to
    identify high-risk carriers; (2) the length of time to complete
    activities, including rulemaking; and (3) the unknown effect of
    OMCHS' campaign to educate passenger vehicle drivers about the
    limitations of large trucks.  OMCHS has developed a draft safety
    action plan that includes these and many other activities to
    improve truck safety, but it has not determined whether it has the
    resources required to complete them all nor which activities have
    the greatest potential for improving truck safety. Insufficient
    Data Limit            Each year, OMCHS and state inspectors
    conduct thousands of on-site OMCHS' Ability to Target
    reviews of motor carriers' compliance with federal safety
    regulations, High-Risk Carriers and             known as
    compliance reviews.  To identify high-risk carriers for these
    States' Ability to Develop         reviews, OMCHS uses a "safety
    status" measurement system known as SafeStat.  SafeStat relies
    heavily on data from OMCHS' management and Implement Safety Plans
    information system to rank motor carriers on the basis of four
    factors:  (1) crashes, (2) drivers' performance, (3) vehicles'
    mechanical condition, and (4) safety management.  The first factor
    is given twice the weight of the other factors because carriers
    that have been in crashes are considered more likely to be
    involved in crashes in the future.  Carriers that are ranked
    8Other factors that affect truck safety that OMCHS does not
    directly influence include highway design standards, passenger
    vehicles' handling and crashworthiness characteristics, traffic
    congestion, local traffic laws and enforcement, and state
    initiatives. Page 10                 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor
    Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 in the
    worst 25 percent of all carriers for three or more factors or for
    the first factor plus one other factor are targeted for a
    compliance review. However, SafeStat's ability to accurately
    target high-risk carriers is limited because state officials do
    not report a large percentage of crashes involving large trucks to
    OMCHS' information system.  For 1997, OMCHS estimated that states
    did not report about 38 percent of all reportable crashes and 30
    percent of the fatal crashes involving large trucks.9
    Furthermore, 10 states reported fewer than 50 percent of the fatal
    crashes occurring within their borders, including 4 states that
    reported fewer than 10 percent.  Because OMCHS does not receive
    information on a large percentage of crashes, carriers that have
    been involved in a substantial number of crashes may go undetected
    by SafeStat.  According to OMCHS officials, states do not report
    all crashes in part because (1) some states have no legislative
    requirement for police departments to submit reports on crashes to
    state officials, (2) state agencies in charge of collecting the
    data for OMCHS must rely on numerous local jurisdictions and other
    agencies to provide the data, and (3) state employees who submit
    crash data to OMCHS may not have sufficient training or incentives
    to report data completely and in a timely manner. According to
    OMCHS officials, providing training to employees and financial
    incentives to states to report crashes should improve crash
    reporting, as was the case for Mississippi.  The state reported
    only 1 of 99 fatal crashes involving large trucks that occurred
    within its borders in 1997. According to OMCHS officials, the
    state used one-time incentive funds from OMCHS to hire two
    employees in 1998 dedicated to collecting data on truck crashes
    and reporting these data to OMCHS.  This resulted in increased
    reporting.  From September 1998 through March 1999, Mississippi
    reported 1,657 crashes involving large trucks to OMCHS.  In
    comparison, from September 1997 through March 1998, the state
    reported 46 crashes.  NHTSA spends about $5 million annually for
    FARS to (1) provide funds to all states to collect, interpret, and
    enter data into the database; (2) maintain the database; and (3)
    train field staff to ensure consistent coding and interpretation.
    The cost for OMCHS to set up a similar system could be greater
    because the Office would need to collect data on a greater number
    of crashes.  For example, in 1997 there were an 9For OMCHS'
    purposes, a reportable crash must result in a fatality, an injury
    for which the person is taken to a medical facility, or the towing
    of one vehicle from the scene. Page 11                 GAO/RCED-
    99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-
    281646 estimated 150,000 truck crashes that should have been
    reported to OMCHS, compared with about 37,000 fatal crashes
    reported to NHTSA. SafeStat's ability to target high-risk carriers
    is also limited by out-of-date census data.  SafeStat uses these
    census data-such as the number of trucks operated or vehicle miles
    traveled by each carrier-to normalize safety data.  For example,
    SafeStat checks the number of crashes reported for a carrier
    against the number of trucks operated by the carrier to determine
    if the number of crashes is disproportionately high.  However, in
    the majority of states, interstate carriers are required to file
    census data with OMCHS only once-when they initially go into
    business.  After that, the census data are updated generally only
    when OMCHS or states conduct compliance reviews at the carriers'
    facilities.  Each year from 1993 through 1997, these reviews were
    conducted for fewer than 4 percent of the carriers known to OMCHS,
    whose numbers increased from 275,000 to more than 415,000 over the
    period. Concern over the quality of OMCHS' data is not new.  In
    1991 and 1997, we reported that DOT needed to improve the quality
    of its data to improve its data analysis capabilities.10  The ICC
    Termination Act of 1995 required DOT to create an information
    system to consolidate information on motor carriers, such as
    census data and insurance and tax information, which carriers will
    be required to update every year.  However, this information
    system is not expected to be operational until late in 2001. As we
    reported in 1997, states have improved the timeliness of reporting
    the results of the roadside inspections, compliance reviews, and
    crashes that are used by SafeStat.  However, states are still not
    meeting OMCHS' reporting deadlines.  OMCHS' December 1996 guidance
    to states requires that they report the results of roadside
    inspections and compliance reviews within 21 days and crashes
    within 90 days.  As shown in table 1, states improved the
    timeliness of reporting data to OMCHS from fiscal year 1997 to
    fiscal year 1998 but were missing the Office's deadlines by an
    average of 8 to 16 days.  Overall, 38 states exceeded OMCHS'
    deadline for reporting inspections, 25 states exceeded the
    deadline for reporting compliance reviews, and 21 states exceeded
    the deadline for reporting crashes in 1998. To improve timeliness,
    OMCHS began distributing monthly reports to 10Freight Trucking:
    Promising Approach for Predicting Carriers' Safety Risks
    (GAO/PEMD-91-13, Apr. 4, 1991) and Commercial Motor Carriers:  DOT
    Is Shifting to Performance-Based Standards to Assess Whether
    Carriers Operate Safely (GAO/RCED-98-8, Nov. 3, 1997). Page 12
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 states in 1997 and issued a notice of proposed
    rulemaking on March 9, 1999, to modify the formula used to
    distribute grants to states to include incentives for, among other
    things, reporting on time. Table 1:  Average Number of Days to
    Report Results of Roadside Inspections, Compliance Reviews, and
    Crashes to OMCHS, Fiscal Years 1996-98 Difference between
    Reporting        1998 average and reporting Average number of days
    to report to OMCHS                       deadline
    deadline 1996               1997                1998 Roadside
    inspections                        49                47
    37                  21                           16 Compliance
    reviews                          35                 41
    29                  21                            8 Crashes
    195                120                 102                    90
    12 Note:  The reporting deadline was established during fiscal
    year 1997. Source:  GAO's analysis of OMCHS' data. Data problems
    also exist at the state level.  In fiscal year 1998, all states
    submitted performance-based safety plans to OMCHS for the first
    time. Under these plans, states must identify areas that need
    improvement, such as sections of highways where a disproportionate
    number of crashes involving large trucks have occurred, and
    develop a plan for improving those areas.  In a pilot program to
    implement performance-based plans, 5 of 13 pilot states reported
    that they lacked sufficient or timely data to accurately identify
    areas that need improvement.  Furthermore, according to OMCHS
    officials, insufficient data-on such things as the number of
    trucks a carrier operates to help states focus their safety
    education programs for carriers-have also been a problem for some
    states once they have identified problem areas and are developing
    improvement plans.  To assist states in improving their data,
    OMCHS distributed a list of data sources to them. Some Important
    Activities                While OMCHS' activities have the
    potential to improve large truck safety, it to Improve Large Truck
    will be several years before the results of some important
    activities are Safety Are Years From                    seen.  For
    example, OMCHS is conducting research on truck drivers' Completion
    drowsiness, including research on a device that would detect
    drowsiness by measuring a truck driver's degree of eye closure.
    However, this device is not likely to be operational for several
    years.  Similarly, following a study conducted in 1988 and updated
    in 1997, which found that new motor Page 13
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 carriers have lower rates of compliance with
    federal motor carrier regulations, OMCHS plans to create a pilot
    program to ensure the safety fitness of these carriers.  While the
    pilot program is expected to be completed by 2003, it will not be
    expanded to all states until several years later, assuming it is
    successful. OMCHS is also currently implementing the Performance
    and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) Program to
    link safety information on motor carriers to state-level motor
    vehicle registration and licensing systems.  The Intermodal
    Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 required a pilot for
    this program, and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
    Century in 1998 expanded the program.  PRISM is intended to (1)
    determine the safety fitness of individual motor carriers during
    the registration process and deny registration to any carrier that
    is under an "operations out of service order" from OMCHS11 and (2)
    identify high-risk carriers (via SafeStat) to be placed in a
    performance-based improvement process that begins with a warning
    letter and could result in eventual revocation of vehicle
    registration privileges.  According to an OMCHS official, this
    program was implemented as a pilot program in five states from
    1995 through 1997 and has since been implemented in six additional
    states.  At a projected implementation rate of about four new
    states per year, the program will not be available in all states
    before 2008. OMCHS is also deploying an information systems
    architecture-the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and
    Networks (CVISN)-that will allow dissimilar federal, state, and
    carrier systems to exchange information electronically.  The
    Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century directed the
    Secretary of Transportation to deploy CVISN in a majority of
    states by September 30, 2003.  From 1999 through 2003, OMCHS plans
    to pilot test CVISN in 10 states, develop system designs for 30
    additional states, and deploy CVISN in at least 16 of those
    states.  OMCHS plans to complete the deployment of CVISN in all
    states by 2005. In March 1999, OMCHS distributed a draft safety
    action plan for review and comment by FHWA field offices, the
    safety community, and the trucking industry.  Of the approximately
    200 activities that OMCHS officials estimate the Office has under
    way or is undertaking from 1999 through 2003, including those
    above, 67 activities are in the plan because the Office 11An
    operations out of service order is issued when a carrier is found
    to have safety problems so severe and urgent that its operation
    must be closed immediately until the problems are corrected. Page
    14                 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
    Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 considers them important to
    reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities.  The plan includes
    OMCHS' recently initiated effort to evaluate the effectiveness of
    its major programs to determine their impacts on truck safety,
    establish goals that will enable the Office to link its activities
    to improvements in truck safety, and recommend improvements to
    make the activities more effective.  OMCHS intends to finalize the
    draft plan in July 1999. The draft safety action plan is organized
    to show where the likely impacts of completed safety initiatives
    will lie, such as with carriers, drivers, and/or vehicles.
    However, it does not specify how OMCHS intends to carry out the
    draft plan or which activities have the greatest potential to
    reduce the number of crashes and save lives.  It also does not
    address whether OMCHS has the resources, either in terms of
    funding or staff, to undertake and complete all of these
    initiatives.  Such an assessment is particularly important because
    the 67 activities represent only about one-third of the activities
    OMCHS has undertaken or plans to undertake. FHWA Is Reviewing Its
    Safety advocates and trucking industry representatives have
    criticized Rulemaking Process to     OMCHS for taking too long to
    issue safety rules.  The rulemaking process in Improve Timeliness
    itself takes a certain amount of time due to the need to adhere to
    various statutory and administrative requirements.  However, the
    length of OMCHS' rulemaking process may be aggravated, in part, by
    the complexity and contentiousness of some motor carrier issues
    and the quality of the rules that OMCHS develops. FHWA officials
    explained that rules-including those with statutorily mandated
    deadlines-that are extremely complex or contentious tend to take
    longer to issue.  For example, the ICC Termination Act of 1995
    required the Secretary of Transportation to consolidate four
    sources of information on motor carriers, such as the DOT
    identification number and financial responsibility information
    systems, into a single information system.  This new system is
    intended to serve as a clearinghouse and depository of
    information-including information on safety fitness-on all foreign
    and domestic motor carriers and others required to register with
    DOT.  The act required the Secretary to issue a final rule on this
    information system by January 1, 1998.  OMCHS issued an advance
    notice of proposed rulemaking in August 1996 and expects to issue
    a notice of proposed rulemaking by September 1999, followed by a
    final rule by December 2000-nearly 3 years after its directed
    date.  OMCHS estimates that the system will be operational about 1
    year after the final rule.  In addition to the difficulty of
    consolidating the various systems, an OMCHS official Page 15
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 explained that another reason for the delay in the
    rulemaking is the act's provision that states not lose revenue
    compared to that in 1995 as a result of replacing the old
    independent systems with the new consolidated system. The ICC
    Termination Act of 1995 also required FHWA to modify the existing
    rule concerning hours of service for drivers of commercial motor
    vehicles to incorporate methods for reducing fatigue-related
    incidents such as crashes.  The act required FHWA to issue an
    advance notice of proposed rulemaking by March 1, 1996; this
    notice was issued on November 5, 1996. The act also required a
    proposed rule within 1 year after the advance notice and a final
    rule within 2 years after that 1-year deadline.  According to
    OMCHS, revisions to this rule are difficult and extremely
    contentious. Therefore, FHWA is currently considering the use of a
    "negotiated rulemaking" process in which a committee-including
    truck drivers, motor carriers, and safety advocacy groups-develops
    the rule.  Through this process, the views of interested parties
    can be incorporated in the proposed rule, thereby reducing the
    number of comments and time needed to issue the final rule.  If
    FHWA conducts a negotiated rulemaking, it expects to issue a
    proposed rule by March 2000; otherwise, it expects to issue a
    proposed rule in September 1999. According to DOT officials
    involved in all stages of the rulemaking process (including
    officials from the Office of the Secretary, FHWA's Office of the
    Chief Counsel, and OMCHS), the length of time OMCHS has taken to
    issue rules is also due in part to the inexperience of and
    insufficient training for OMCHS staff who develop the rules.  FHWA
    has recognized that more attention needs to be paid to the
    development of rules because rules that are insufficiently
    analyzed or poorly written require more time in the review
    process.  In addition, rules that are classified by FHWA as
    "significant"-such as rules that will have a significant impact on
    the public or state or local governments, that are costly, or that
    are controversial- must be reviewed and approved by the Office of
    the Secretary, while other rules are approved by the Administrator
    of FHWA.  This difference is important for OMCHS because about
    half of its rules in process (29 of 57) as of April 1999 were
    classified as significant, therefore requiring additional review.
    As part of a DOT-wide effort, FHWA is examining its rulemaking
    process to identify ways to streamline the process and has
    identified several areas for improvement.  FHWA is considering
    actions such as (1) preparing guidance on the rulemaking process,
    (2) providing training for employees that develop rules, and (3)
    recommending that DOT revise its Page 16           GAO/RCED-99-182
    Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646
    procedures to limit the number of regulatory proposals requiring
    review by the Office of the Secretary and expediting those that
    undergo such review. Effectiveness of OMCHS'       Because factors
    related to passenger vehicle drivers often contribute to Campaign
    to Educate           fatal crashes between large trucks and
    passenger vehicles, OMCHS Passenger Vehicle Drivers     launched
    the "No-Zone" campaign in 1994.  This campaign is intended to
    About the Limitations of      reduce crashes between large trucks
    and passenger vehicles by educating passenger vehicle drivers
    about how to safely share the road with large Large Trucks Is
    Unknown       trucks and about trucks' limitations, such as
    reduced maneuverability, longer stopping distances, and blind
    spots (the No Zone).  The campaign's public education efforts
    include public service announcements via radio, television, and
    print; brochures; posters; and decals on large trucks. According
    to OMCHS and NHTSA officials, the success of this type of
    educational campaign depends, in part, on maintaining a
    consistently high level of public exposure to convey the message.
    The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century directed the
    Secretary of Transportation to obligate $500,000 in fiscal years
    1998 through 2003 for this type of effort out of funds made
    available for certain activities carried out by NHTSA. However,
    according to OMCHS and NHTSA officials, the No-Zone campaign did
    not receive these funds in fiscal year 1998 because the funds for
    these activities had already been committed by the time the act
    was passed in June 1998.  While OMCHS had sufficient funds to
    maintain the No-Zone campaign activities throughout fiscal year
    1998, it was not able to develop new advertisements for the 1999
    spring through fall travel period. OMCHS has not determined to
    what extent, if any, the No-Zone campaign has contributed to
    changing passenger vehicle drivers' behavior and reducing crashes
    between large trucks and passenger vehicles.  OMCHS has conducted
    focus groups with high school students and plans to conduct a
    national telephone survey within the next year to determine the
    level of public recognition of the No-Zone campaign; however, the
    survey will not measure whether passenger vehicle drivers'
    behavior has changed. OMCHS is also exploring the possibility of
    developing indicators of changes in passenger vehicle drivers'
    behavior by requesting changes to vehicle citation codes to allow
    police officers to cite drivers for unsafe driving practices-
    including those in the vicinity of large trucks.  For example, an
    officer could cite a passenger vehicle driver for changing lanes
    in front of a truck and then braking suddenly. Page 17
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 Conclusions                     The Office of
    Motor Carrier and Highway Safety has not been effective in
    reducing fatalities resulting from crashes involving large trucks
    because, among other things, it knows too little about the causes
    of crashes or the factors that contribute to them and because it
    has not corrected long-standing problems with the information it
    uses, such as information that identifies high-risk carriers.  As
    a result, the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety cannot
    tell whether it is allocating its efforts in line with the most
    serious problems it seeks to address. The Office of Motor Carrier
    and Highway Safety is developing a draft safety action plan that
    could help it better understand the causes of crashes, improve the
    information it uses to address safety problems, and lead to safety
    improvements through other means.  The draft plan identifies 67
    activities that the Office believes are most important for
    improving truck safety out of an estimated 200 activities that it
    has under way.  While the draft plan is subject to change, the 67
    activities represent a significant undertaking, but the Office has
    not determined which of these activities are most likely to lead
    to a reduced number of crashes and deaths or whether it can
    complete all the planned activities in a timely manner with
    available resources, both budgetary and human. Recommendation
    We recommend to the Secretary of Transportation that the
    Department prioritize the activities in the Office of Motor
    Carrier and Highway Safety's safety action plan according to their
    potential for reducing the number of crashes and deaths and, to
    ensure that the activities are completed in a timely manner, only
    undertake those that the Office is reasonably sure it can complete
    within available budgetary and human resources. Agency Comments
    and  DOT provided comments on a draft of this report.  (See app.
    I.)  DOT Our Evaluation                  agreed with the contents
    of the report, stating that it provided a balanced discussion of
    areas needing improvement and the agency's efforts to improve the
    commercial vehicle safety program.  DOT also stated that (1)
    definitive data are lacking on causes of crashes for all types of
    motor vehicles, not just trucks, and the Department is working to
    improve data quality; (2) the Department has recently requested
    additional funds to improve data collection, enforcement, and
    technology enhancement programs; and (3) No-Zone campaign
    information is now provided in 34 state drivers' licensing manuals
    and evidence from a focus group of high school students indicated
    that the campaign has had a positive effect on the Page 18
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety B-281646 students' driving behavior.  Regarding the first
    comment, we recognize that the lack of definitive crash causation
    data is a problem that relates to all motor vehicles; however,
    until causation data on truck crashes is improved, DOT will be
    hampered in improving truck safety.  Regarding the second comment,
    although DOT has requested additional funds to improve several of
    the problems we identified in our report, this request will be
    considered by the Congress along with other budget requests.
    Depending on available resources, DOT may have to find other
    solutions to improving its programs, including prioritizing its
    activities according to their potential for reducing crashes.
    Finally, while DOT has some indication that the No-Zone campaign
    is reaching a large number of people, it has not yet evaluated the
    effectiveness of the campaign by determining the extent to which
    drivers' behavior has actually changed.  DOT did not comment on
    the recommendation in our draft report. Scope and      To identify
    trends in crashes involving large trucks, we reviewed data from
    Methodology    1988 through 1997 (the most recent data available)
    from NHTSA and FHWA.  In estimating the number of fatalities from
    crashes involving large trucks for 1998 through 2000, we (1)
    assumed that the fatality rate would remain at the 1997 level of
    2.8 fatalities per 100 million truck miles traveled, (2) used the
    best-fit, least-squares regression trend line for the number of
    truck miles traveled from 1992 through 1997 to project the truck
    miles traveled for 1998 through 2000, and (3) multiplied the
    projected number of truck miles traveled for each year by the
    fatality rate of 2.8 per 100 million miles traveled. To determine
    the factors that contribute to crashes involving large trucks, we
    reviewed data from FARS.  We also interviewed officials and
    reviewed documentation from OMCHS, the National Transportation
    Safety Board, AAA, and the University of Michigan Transportation
    Research Institute.  To examine OMCHS' activities to improve truck
    safety, we interviewed officials and reviewed documentation from
    DOT (including OMCHS, FHWA, NHTSA, and the Office of General
    Counsel), the National Transportation Safety Board, the Commercial
    Vehicle Safety Alliance, American Trucking Associations, the
    National Private Trucking Council, Advocates for Highway and Auto
    Safety, and Public Citizen.  We performed our work from December
    1998 through May 1999 in accordance with generally accepted
    government auditing standards. Page 19            GAO/RCED-99-182
    Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 We
    are sending copies of this report to congressional committees and
    subcommittees responsible for transportation issues; the Honorable
    Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation; the Honorable Jacob
    Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget; and other
    interested parties. We will make copies available to others upon
    request. If you or your staff have any questions about this
    report, please contact me at (202) 512-3650.  Major contributors
    to this report were Jennifer Clayborne, David Goldstein, James
    Ratzenberger, and Sara Vermillion. Sincerely yours, Phyllis F.
    Scheinberg Associate Director, Transportation Issues Page 20
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
    Safety Page 21    GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
    Activities to Improve Safety Appendix I Comments From the
    Department of Transportation
    Appendix I Page 22    GAO/RCED-99-182 Moter Carriers Office's
    Activities to Improve Safety Appendix I Comments From the
    Department of Transportation (348140)    Letter    Page 23
    GAO/RCED-99-182 Moter Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
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