Improving Commercial Trucking Makes NTSB’s Most Wanted List for 2015

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced that the goal of improving commercial trucking is on its “Most Wanted List” for 2015.

New to the list of top 10 areas that need safety improvements are: Requiring that transportation operators be medically fit for duty; strengthening commercial trucking safety; and requiring pilots to strengthen procedural compliance.

NTSB also noted that “rail tank cars that carry crude oil, ethanol and other hazardous materials across the country must do it more safely.”

“The Most Wanted List is our roadmap for 2015,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “We want it to be a roadmap for policy makers and legislators as well. These are safety improvements for which the time is ripe for action.”

Distraction and impairment are still key issues for the NTSB, and both are on the list again this year.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2012, about one in 10 drivers in fatal crashes were distracted. In almost a third of fatal crashes, a driver was impaired by alcohol.

Also on the list this year is safety of helicopters operated by local, state, and federal governments. Pilots who fly search and rescue and law enforcement missions require safer operations. And this year the NTSB is focusing on all modes of mass transit for greater operational safety.

Category: Featured, General Update, Safety