2012 ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SAFETY SHOWS LIVES SAVED

Last month, the U.S. DOT and FMCSA released its Roadside Intervention Effectiveness Model (RIEM) analysis for 2012, based on the commercial vehicle roadside safety inspections and traffic enforcement programs conducted over the year.

The RIEM is based on the premise that roadside inspection and traffic enforcement interventions, which correct vehicle and driver violations, contribute to a reduction in crashes. The 2012 analysis, the most recent year in which data are available, estimates that these commercial vehicle programs saved 472 lives that year, and since 2001, they have saved more than 7,000 lives. The RIEM also determined that the programs prevented nearly 9,000 injuries from more than 14,000 crashes involving commercial trucks and buses.

In all 50 states, the District of Columbia and in all U.S. territories, federal, state and municipal commercial vehicle safety inspectors that are trained and certified conduct thousands of unannounced roadside safety inspections on commercial trucks, buses and their drivers on a daily basis.

The ultimate focus is to change behavior by the carrier and/or the commercial driver to operate in compliance with federal safety regulations, leading to a reduction in crashes involving commercial motor vehicles.