The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent body within the federal government that investigates all plane crashes in the U.S., as well as significant crashes on our highways, and maritime and train accidents. What does NTSB do? Most people, if they've heard of NTSB at all, associate the organization with plane crash investigations. They do [...]
A tech start-up is betting on an autonomous truck hitting the road in the U.S. —and soon. The former Google engineers at Otto designed a $30,000 kit that can retrofit semi-trucks with new autonomous driving technology. The autonomous truck package includes extra cameras, radar, and lights sensors. A computer gathers all of that information, adds [...]
The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT, or DOT) is the federal government agency in charge of transportation planning, funding, and safety. The top priorities at DOT are to keep the traveling public safe and secure, increase their mobility, and have our transportation system contribute to the nation's economic growth. - transportation.gov What does [...]
Most city streets, with tight intersections and multiple stoplights, were not designed to accommodate tractor-trailer trucks alongside pedestrians and bicyclists. Large trucks have a high, wide gap between the truck's front and rear tires. This dangerous space is where 50% of the deaths from truck and bicycle collisions occur. A truck side guard is a [...]
Right now, there are easily tens of thousands of semi-trucks delivering parts and products all over the United States. It is in the public interest that those trucks—and truck drivers—operate safely on our roads and highways. That's why there's a government agency in charge of setting and enforcing rules for commercial trucks and buses: the [...]
The logging truck, quite simply, had been massively overloaded. It wasn’t the first time this trucking company—and this trucker—had been caught overloading their logging trucks. Logging trucks—like this one—must follow strict guidelines to correctly load and secure extremely heavy cargo. But one day, on a scenic road in the Olympic Peninsula, the [...]
On a September evening in 2014, a tractor-trailer going over 70 mph on an Oklahoma highway veered out of the left lane. The truck driver was neither braking nor steering as the semi-truck crossed the median. That semi-truck traveled about 1100 feet before it collided with a bus on the other side of the highway. [...]
Every year, thousands of Americans suffer fatal injuries from truck crashes. Each one of those victims could leave behind dozens of family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors who are affected by a preventable tragedy. This week, the Truck Safety Coalition hosted a Sorrow to Strength conference. Truck crash survivors, and the families and friends of [...]
A quick lesson in trucking law: maintenance duty You probably know that specific laws and regulations apply to all commercial trucks that use our public highways.* One of those rules: every trucking company must have a regular truck maintenance program to keep its equipment in safe operating condition. As a back-up, the truck driver must [...]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is tasked with investigating serious transportation accidents. On August 11, the NTSB issued their initial report on a 2014 fatal semi-truck crash that killed one man, and seriously injured several others—including actor Tracy Morgan. See background, details on the fatal truck crash Six important details from the semi-truck crash [...]
