National Academy Peer Review Committee Condemns U.S. DOT Study Process

A group of public health and safety groups comprised of truck drivers, law enforcement, and families of truck crash victims joined U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) on Capitol Hill to oppose any increases to federal truck size and truck weight limits as Congress debates the next multi-billion dollar surface transportation reauthorization bill.

According to the group: “Concerns about a dangerous and deadly policy change in federal law are heightened because the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is currently conducting a study on truck size and weights which has significant flaws and potential biases.”

The group further noted that: “A report just released by the National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board (TRB) peer review panel verified many of the concerns and criticisms by these groups about the flawed methodology being used and the short time frame for completing the study.

“The report concluded that these two factors would likely yield inaccurate study results. The DOT study will potentially influence decisions in Congress and states for decades to come on the safety of allowing overweight and oversized trucks to share the road with motorists.”

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) stated, “I have serious concerns about the study that the Department of Transportation is conducting on this critical issue. If DOT does not include the most common configurations of big trucks in their analysis, then the validity of the study will be called into question. We want and need the best possible study, and if the process is flawed, this will all be an exercise in futility. Truck size and weight issues have significant safety and cost implications. We need to get this right.”

The group further noted that: “Over the past three years, the United States has endured increases in the number of fatalities and injuries caused by large truck crashes. Fatalities have increased by 16 percent since 2009 from 3,380 to 3,921, and the number of people injured in these crashes has increased by a staggering 40 percent, from 74,000 to 104,000.”

Category: Featured, General Update, Management