Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Gathering information about truck safety and truck accidents is one of the most important ways to help prevent Coral Gables truck accidents as well as truck accidents across the country. Data gathering helps the industry make changes that improve safety. In 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) launched an initiative to gather just this type of data. The Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) program gathers several types of trucking industry data, including many types of data that relate to safety compliance.
In May 2012, new CSA program data was released and it suggested some worrying trends about trucking safety. According to the data, for example, in April 2012 there were 166,810 active commercial carriers in the trucking industry, up 7.5% from the 155,240 registered in 2011. While experts may disagree about the impact of the increase, there may be some concerns about this increase when it comes to Coral Gables traffic accident statistics. More carriers can mean more trucks and therefore more traffic on the roads, which can increase the risk of accidents. More carriers also means more work for authorities charged with ensuring safety compliance. Checking on more carriers may stretch resources even further as authorities aim to ensure compliance for more companies.
Another worrying statistics released by the CSA program involves fatigued driving. The CSA program uses a statistical tool known as Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) scores to evaluate the performance of carriers and drivers. In April 2012, 34% of carriers who were given BASIC scores were found to have an alert for fatigued driving. In most cases, the fatigued driving was caused by violations of Hours of Service (HOS) rules. The fact that there were so many instances of fatigued driving could be bad news for Coral Gables car accidents, since studies have shown that fatigued drivers are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents.
Since the CSA program is new, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has not made firm plans about what to do with the statistics and data gathered through the program. Currently, the organization has not said that it has any plans to propose new rules based on the CSA data, for example.
In the meantime, however CSA data and other data collected about the trucking industry can perhaps at least provide a better insight into the industry – and into why Coral Gables car accidents and truck accidents occur. Information can help authorities and policy makers determine which issues require attention and which issues need more focus in order to prevent Coral Gables traffic accidents in the future.
If you have been injured in a Coral Gables truck accident, contact the Flaxman Law Group. The legal team at the Flaxman Law Group has represented thousands of South Florida personal injury and truck accident survivors. As a full-service law firm, the Flaxman Law Group has access to resources to handle every step of a case, from negotiating with insurance providers to seeking justice on your behalf. Contact the Flaxman Law Group today to arrange your free, no obligation initial consultation to discuss your case.