The Trucker Newspaper - April 15, 2018

6 • April 15-30, 2018 Nation
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NTSB: Car-truck crash that killed 6 shows need to implement its latest safety recommendations
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WASHINGTON — The National Transportation
Safety Board said a highway accident
brief published by the NTSB for its investigation
of a June 2016 highway crash that
killed six people and injured five, illustrates
the need to implement 15 safety recommendations
associated with the NTSB’s Most Wanted
List of transportation safety improvements
for fatigue, occupant protection and collision
avoidance.
A seven-passenger sport utility vehicle
with a total of 11 occupants was struck from
behind by a tractor-trailer on Interstate70 near
Goodland, Kansas, June 29, 2016, at 2:15 a.m.
Survivors of the crash said they believed the
SUV was traveling near the posted minimum
speed limit of 40 mph while the tractor-trailer
was traveling near the posted maximum speed
limit of 75 mph at the time of impact.
“While the NTSB did not issue safety recommendations
based upon the findings of this
investigation, the investigation does emphasize
the need to implement 15 NTSB safety
recommendations to improve highway safety
and to reduce the number and severity of highway
crashes,” said Rob Molloy, director of the
NTSB’s office of highway safety. “The causal
and contributing factors to this tragic and completely
preventable crash demonstrate why
the issues of fatigue, occupant protection and
collision avoidance are on the NTSB’s Most
Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.
In this crash, a collision avoidance system,
especially one capable of automatically
applying the brakes, might have prevented this
accident or at least lessened the severity of the
crash.”
The NTSB determined that the tractortrailer
driver’s failure to take effective action
to avoid the crash due to his fatigue and lack
of expectancy to encounter the slow-moving
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SUV, led to the crash. The SUV driver’s decision
to continue traveling at a reduced speed
on the highway without the use of flashing hazard
lights contributed to the crash, as well. The
overloading of the SUV and the lack of a collision
avoidance system on the truck contributed
to the severity of the crash.
“Of the 315 open safety recommendations
associated with the NTSB’s Most Wanted List
of Transportation Safety Improvements, 15 relate
to the issues identified in this crash investigation,”
said Molloy. “Of the 39,339 transportation
fatalities in 2016, highway fatalities accounted
for 37,461 deaths, or 95 percent of all
transportation fatalities in 2016. We view the
implementation of these recommendations as
vital to ensuring the safety of America’s transportation
system. The longer it takes for NTSB
safety recommendations to be implemented,
the longer an identified safety need remains
unaddressed, potentially threatening the safety
of travelers and transportation workers.”
The NTSB has no regulatory authority, but
can make safety recommendations to governmental
agencies. 8
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