Safety board recommends trucks be connected to avoid crashes

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On the heels of a report released this week on an investigation into a truck and school bus crash that happened in February of 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board has made several recommendations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and other groups based on its findings, with the biggest recommendation being that all trucks and cars become equipped with what it calls “connected vehicle technology,” to allow the vehicle to determine if a vehicle is coming in an intersection.

This recommendation was made to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, suggesting that NHTSA develop minimum standards for connected vehicle technology for all highway vehicles.

NTSB recommended to FMCSA that it require all persons applying for inclusion in the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners to have “both a thorough knowledge of pharmacology and current prescribing authority.”

The crash that spurred the recommendations occurred in Chesterfield, N.J. A school bus carrying 25 kindergarten through 6th grade students was turning into an intersection and failed to yield to a truck hauling a dump container. The bus rotated 180 degrees after being hit and hit a pole. One bus passenger was killed, and five sustained serious injuries. The truck driver was uninjured.

NTSB also recommended to NHTSA that it develop standards for and mandate use of onboard vehicle weighing systems for trucks that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more and are used in hauling aggregates, earthen construction materials, raw natural resources, garbage and refuse or used in logging, timber or agricultural operations.

Click here to see NTSB’s full report and its other recommendations.