The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are joining forces to conduct a two-year study of tractor-trailer accidents.
NHTSA researchers hope to collect and analyze data from as many as 1,000 serious crashes in 17 states involving large trucks. The safety agency’s data from 1999 shows that 475,000 large trucks were involved in accidents, resulting in 5,362 fatalities and 142,000 injuries.
Transportation secretary Norman Mineta has stressed that safety is the DOT’s number one priority and has confirmed that DOT's budget includes over $7 billion for safety programs, including $400 million to reduce motor carrier fatalities.
