Crash Weighting Analysis, 3719-3723 [2015-01144]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 15 / Friday, January 23, 2015 / Notices
State of New York: Portageville Bridge
Project, Towns of Portage and Genesee
Falls, Livingston and Wyoming
Counties, New York. The purpose of the
Project is to address the existing
deficiencies at the Portageville Bridge
on the Southern Tier rail freight route
across the Genesee River by providing a
modern rail crossing of the Genesee
River at its current location that is
capable of carrying current industry
standard freight rail loads, to the
greatest degree possible meeting Federal
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Project is needed in order for Norfolk
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December 15, 2014.
Southern, the Project Sponsor, to
continue safe, reliable, and efficient rail
Bryon H. Rakoff,
operations on the Southern Tier route.
Deputy Manager, Airports Division.
These operations are critical to the
[FR Doc. 2015–01213 Filed 1–22–15; 8:45 am]
economic viability and growth of the
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
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The actions by the Federal agencies,
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Federal Highway Administration
were taken, are described in the FHWA
Final Environmental Impact Statement
Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions (FEIS) for the project, approved by
on the Portageville Bridge Project,
FHWA in the Record ofDecision (ROD)
Livingston and Wyoming Counties,
issued on December 29, 2014, and in
New York
other documents in the FHWA
administrative record. The FEIS, ROD,
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and other documents in the FHWA
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administrative record file are available
ACTION: Notice of Limitation on Claims
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addresses provided above. The FEIS and
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SUMMARY: This notice announces actions from the project Web site at https://
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agencies that are final within the
notice applies to all Federal agency
meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(1)(1). The
decisions as of the issuance date ofthis
actions relate to the Portageville Bridge
notice and all laws under which such
Project. Those actions grant approvals
actions were taken, including but not
for the project.
limited to:
DATES: By this notice, FHWA is advising
1. General Environmental Statues:
the public of final agency actions
National Environmental Policy Act (42
subject to 23 U.S.C. 139(1)(1). A claim
U.S.C. 4321–4355); Economic, social,
seeking judicial review ofthe Federal
and environmental effects (23 U.S.C.
agency actions on the railway bridge
109(h)); Uniform Relocation Assistance
project will be barred unless the claim
and Real Property Acquisition Policies
is filed on or before June 22, 2015. If the Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. Chapter 61 and
Federal law that authorizes judicial
49 CFR 24); Public Hearings (23 U.S.C.
review of a claim provides a time period 128).
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claim, then that shorter time period still 7506(c) and 40 CFR part 93); Safe,
applies.
Efficient Use, and Preservation ofthe
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Navigable Airspace (14 CFR part 77);
Jonathan D. McDade, Division
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality
Administrator, Federal Highway
Improvement Program (23 U.S.C. 149).
Administration, Leo W. O’Brien Federal
3. Noise: Standards (23 U.S.C. 109(i)).
Building, Albany, New York 12207,
4. Land: Section 4(f) ofthe Department
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of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 U.S.C.
303 and 23 CFR 774); Farmland
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
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hereby given that FHWA and other
Federal agencies have taken final agency 4209); Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–4–
actions by issuing approvals for the
4601–11)
following railway bridge project in the
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Town of Plymouth, Plymouth County
Registry of Deeds, Book 3099, page 406.
The Airport completed a Real Estate
Appraisal Report and Review Appraisal
for the parcels. The appraisal was
conducted in accordance with the
Uniform Standards of Professional
Appraisal Practice (USPAP). The
appraisal concludes that the Plymouth
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releasing in this proposed land release
and property exchange. In accordance
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United States Code, the FAA invites
public comment on this proposal.
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18:05 Jan 22, 2015
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3719
5. Wildlife: Endangered Species Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531–1544 and 50 CFR 402);
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16
U.S.C. 661–667(d)); Bald and Golden
Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–
668(c)).
6. Historic and Cultural Resources:
Section 106 ofthe National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
(16 U.S.C. 470 and 36 CFR part 800).
7. Social and Economic: Interstate
Commerce Commission Termination
Act of 1995 (49 U.S.C. 10501), the
Federal Railway Safety Act of 1970 (49
U.S.C. 20101 et seq.).
8. Wetlands and Water Resources:
Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C.
300(f)-3000)(6)); Federal Water Pollution
Control Act of 1972, as amended by the
Clean Water Act of 1977 & 1987 (33
U.S.C. 1251–1387); National Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (16 U.S.C.
1271–1287) and Genesee River
Protection Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C.
1276(a)); Rivers and Harbors
Appropriation Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C.
401).
9. Hazardous Materials:
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (42 U.S.C. 9601–9675).
10. Executive Orders: E.O. 11990
Protection of Wetlands; E.O. 12898
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Invasive Species; E.O. 11988 of 1977
Floodplains.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
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and Construction. The regulations
implementing Executive Order 12372
regarding intergovernmental consultation on
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Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(1)(1)
Jonathan D. McDade,
Division Administrator, Albany NY.
[FR Doc. 2015–00986 Filed 1–22–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2014–0177]
Crash Weighting Analysis
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for public
comment.
AGENCY:
FMCSA announces a study to
inform decision making about the
feasibility of using a motor carrier’s role
in crashes as an indicator of future crash
risk in response to stakeholder interest
SUMMARY:
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and as part of the Agency’s commitment
to continuous improvement. This study
assesses (1) whether Police Accident
Reports (PARs) provide sufficient,
consistent, and reliable information to
support crash weighting determinations;
(2) whether a crash weighting
determination process would offer an
even stronger predictor of crash risk
than overall crash involvement and how
crash weighting would be implemented
in the Agency’s Safety Measurement
System (SMS); and (3) how FMCSA
might manage a process for making
crash weighting determinations,
including the acceptance of public
input. This notice advises the public of
the availability of the study report for
review and comment, along with a
request for feedback on what steps the
Agency should take regarding crash and
PAR data quality.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before February 23, 2015.
page that appears after submitting
comments on-line.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5
U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments
from the public to better inform its
rulemaking process. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any
personal information the commenter
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in the system of records
notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information concerning this study,
contact Ms. Dee Williams, Chief,
Compliance Division, Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC 20590, Telephone 202–366–1812 or
by email: dee.williams@dot.gov. If you
have questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, contact Docket
Operations, telephone (202) 366–9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
You may submit comments
bearing the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA–
2014–0177 using any of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility;
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590–0001.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., ET, Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
Each submission must include the
Agency name and the docket number for
this notice. Note that DOT posts all
comments received without change to
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information included in a
comment. Please see the Privacy Act
heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at
any time or visit Room W12–140 on the
ground level of the West Building, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. The on-line Federal document
management system is available 24
hours each day, 365 days each year. If
you want acknowledgment that we
received your comments, please include
a self-addressed, stamped envelope or
postcard or print the acknowledgement
I. Public Participation and Request for
Comments
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ADDRESSES:
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FMCSA encourages you to participate
by submitting comments and related
materials.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please
include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA–2014–0177), indicate
the specific section of this document to
which each comment applies, and
provide a reason for each suggestion or
recommendation. You may submit your
comments and material online or by fax,
mail, or hand delivery, but please use
only one of these means. FMCSA
recommends that you include your
name and a mailing address, an email
address, or a phone number in the body
of your document so the Agency can
contact you if it has questions regarding
your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to
https://www.regulations.gov and put the
docket number, ‘‘FMCSA–2014–0177’’
in the ‘‘Keyword’’ box, and click
‘‘Search.’’ When the new screen
appears, click on ‘‘Comment Now!’’
button and type your comment into the
text box in the following screen. Choose
whether you are submitting your
comment as an individual or on behalf
of a third party and then submit. If you
submit your comments by mail or hand
delivery, submit them in an unbound
format, no larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches,
suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit comments by mail
and would like to know that they
reached the facility, please enclose a
stamped, self-addressed postcard or
envelope.
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FMCSA will consider all comments
and material received during the
comment period and may change this
notice based on your comments.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as
documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to
https://www.regulations.gov and insert
the docket number, ‘‘FMCSA–2014–
0177’’ in the ‘‘Keyword’’ box and click
‘‘Search.’’ Next, click ‘‘Open Docket
Folder’’ button and choose the
document listed to review. If you do not
have access to the Internet, you may
view the docket online by visiting the
Docket Management Facility in Room
W12–140 on the ground floor of the
DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
II. Background
The FMCSA is dedicated to reducing
crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving
large trucks and buses. The Compliance,
Safety, Accountability (CSA) program is
FMCSA’s enforcement model that
allows the Agency and State Partners to
address motor carrier safety problems
before crashes occur. The foundation of
CSA is the SMS, which quantifies the
on-road safety performance of motor
carriers to prioritize enforcement
resources.
The SMS uses recordable crash
records involving commercial motor
vehicles (CMVs) that are submitted by
the States through the Agency’s Motor
Carrier Management Information System
(MCMIS) to assess motor carriers’ crash
risk and prioritize them for safety
interventions using the SMS Crash
Indicator. To define recordable crash,
the Agency relies on the definition of
‘‘accident’’ found in 49 CFR 390.5,
which means (1) except as provided in
paragraph (2) of the definition, an
occurrence involving a CMV operating
on a highway in interstate or intrastate
commerce that results in: (i) A fatality;
(ii) bodily injury to a person who, as a
result of the injury, immediately
receives medical treatment away from
the scene of the accident; or (iii) one or
more motor vehicles incurring disabling
damage as a result of the accident,
requiring the motor vehicle(s) to be
transported away from the scene by a
tow truck or other motor vehicle. (2)
The term accident does not include: (i)
An occurrence involving only boarding
and alighting from a stationary motor
vehicle; or (ii) an occurrence involving
only the loading or unloading of cargo.
A CMV is also defined at 49 CFR
390.5, as any self-propelled or towed
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motor vehicle used on a highway in
interstate commerce to transport
passengers or property when the
vehicle: (1) Has a gross vehicle weight
rating or gross combination weight
rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross
combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001
pounds) or more, whichever is greater;
or (2) is designed or used to transport
more than eight passengers (including
the driver) for compensation; or (3) is
designed or used to transport more than
15 passengers, including the driver, and
is not used to transport passengers for
compensation; or (4) is used in
transporting material found by the
Secretary of Transportation to be
hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and
transported in a quantity requiring
placarding under regulations prescribed
by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle
B, chapter I, subchapter C.
Because the crash data reported to
FMCSA by the States does not specify
a motor carrier’s role in the crash, the
Crash Indicator uses all of a motor
carrier’s recordable crashes, and is not
available publicly. The Crash Indicator
does weight crashes based on crash
severity, however, with more weight
given to fatality and injury crashes than
to those that meet the definition of an
accident only because one or more
vehicles was towed from the scene.
Research on this issue conducted by
FMCSA, as well as independent
organizations, has demonstrated that
crash involvement, regardless of role in
the crash, is a strong indicator of future
crash risk. In fact, the Crash Indicator is
one of the strongest predictors of
crashes within the SMS. FMCSA’s
recently completed SMS Effectiveness
Test (ET) shows that motor carriers
above the Intervention Threshold in the
Crash Indicator have a future crash rate
that is 85 percent higher than the
national average (https://
csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/CSMS_
Effectiveness_Test_Final_Report.pdf).
This document and related reports are
available in the docket of this notice.
Since FMCSA has implemented the
SMS, some stakeholders have expressed
concern that the Crash Indicator may
not identify the highest risk motor
carriers for intervention because it looks
at all crashes without regard to the role
of the carrier in the crash. In response
to stakeholder interest and as part of the
Agency’s commitment to continuous
improvement, FMCSA has completed a
study on the feasibility of using a motor
carrier’s role in crashes as an indicator
of future crash risk. The analysis
focused only on the three broad
questions below addressing the
procedural issues surrounding a crash
weighting program and the feasibility of
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implementing such a program; it did not
focus on any other implications of the
program. The three analysis questions
are separate analyses designed to inform
Agency decisions.
• Do PARs provide sufficient,
consistent, and reliable information to
support crash weighting
determinations?
• Would a crash weighting
determination process offer an even
stronger predictor of crash risk than
overall crash involvement, and how
would crash weighting be implemented
in the SMS?
• Depending upon the analysis
results for the questions above, how
might FMCSA manage the process for
making crash weighting determinations,
including public input to the process?
The Agency’s research plan was
posted on the Agency’s Web site at
https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/
CrashWeightingResearchPlan_72012.pdf on July 23, 2012. The resulting
report is titled ‘‘Crash Weighting
Analysis’’ and is in the docket
associated with this notice. The draft
research was peer reviewed, and the
peer review recommendations are also
in the docket.
III. Summary of Analysis
The discussion below summarizes the
results of the three questions addressed
in this analysis. Each question is
addressed independently. The FMCSA
seeks comments on the analyses’
approaches and results.
Because FMCSA does not receive
PARs from the States, the Agency
created a database for analysis using
10,892 PARs obtained from two national
datasets: The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality
Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and
the National Motor Vehicle Crash
Causation Survey (NMVCCS).
Depending upon State procedures,
most PARs do not indicate the reason
for a crash; therefore, the FMCSA
employed a review process based on the
process developed for FMCSA’s Large
Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS),
particularly the methodology for
assigning the ‘‘critical event’’ and the
‘‘critical reason’’ for the critical event.
This methodology focuses on pre-crash
events, such as vehicle and driver
actions/movements, driver condition,
and the environment at the crash scene,
to identify the circumstances leading to
the crash.1 The critical event is the
event that immediately led to the crash
and that put the vehicle or vehicles on
1 For details on the LTCCS methodology, go to
https://www.ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ltccs/
default.asp?page=method.
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3721
a course that made the crash
unavoidable. The critical reason is the
immediate reason for the critical event
or the failure leading to the critical
event, for example, if a CMV driver
drives too fast for the roadway type.
The FMCSA reviewed the PARs and
determined the critical event and
critical reason to identify a motor
carrier’s role in a crash and assign a
crash weighting for analysis purposes.
In order to derive the most robust
analysis of each study question, the
Agency used several crash data sources,
including PARs, the NMVCCS, and the
MCMIS.
Question 1: Do PARs provide sufficient,
consistent, and reliable information to
support crash weighting
determinations?
One of the key questions for this
study is whether FMCSA could make
reliable crash weighting determinations
based solely on PARs, since the PAR is
often perceived as the most common
and timely record of a crash. This
analysis (1) reviewed PAR sufficiency
for determining a motor carrier’s role in
a crash; (2) compared a sample of PARs
with other data sets to assess the
reliability of the information on the
PARs; and (3) assessed the feasibility of
identifying (coding) the motor carrier’s
role for particular types of crash events
without reviewing the PAR.
In this study, FMCSA reviewed and
coded three years of crash data, a total
of 10,892 PARs from the FARS and
NMVCCS, to identify the critical reason
for the crash. Ninety-one percent of the
PARs met the criteria to be reviewed for
a critical reason determination (at least
one vehicle involved in the crash was a
CMV, the CMV was regulated by
FMCSA, and the crash met the criteria
for a recordable crash). Nine percent
could not be reviewed because it could
not be determined from the PAR that all
of these criteria were met. Of the 91
percent of the PARs that could be
reviewed, 3 percent could not be coded
for a critical reason due to incomplete,
inconsistent, or insufficient information.
The PARs were then reviewed to
determine how reliably (or accurately)
they depicted the circumstances of the
crash. Specific fields on the PARs were
compared to the information in related
fields in the FARS, which provides
more robust information than the PAR
alone. The FMCSA did not attempt to
infer these data fields from the narrative
sections of the PAR.
The following table provides an
overview of the match rate between
PARs and FARS. The Agency was
unable, in this type of analysis, to
establish which record, the PAR or
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FARS, was more accurate, but simply
identified the fact that the two data
sources were not in agreement.
Data field
PAR/FARS
match
PAR/FARS
non-match
Driver Contributing Factors .................................................................................................
First Harmful Event .............................................................................................................
Traffic-Way Flow .................................................................................................................
Weather Conditions ............................................................................................................
Roadway Surface Conditions .............................................................................................
12.6% ...............
46.9 ..................
52.4 ..................
95.7 ..................
96.7 ..................
5.3% .................
5.6 ....................
14.9 ..................
3.2 ....................
2.3 ....................
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The FMCSA also compared the
critical reasons assigned for this study
with those assigned in matching records
from the NMVCCS, which employs a
similar critical reason determination
process. The analysis found that the
majority of the critical reason
determinations, about 90 percent,
matched between these two data
sources.
The Agency also assessed the
practicality of coding crashes for two
types of crash events using information
available in the MCMIS as an approach
to crash weighting that would not
require reviewing an actual PAR: (1)
Single-vehicle crashes deemed to be
‘‘attributable’’ to the motor carrier; and
(2) both single- and multiple-vehicle
crashes with associated post-crash
inspection records indicating a precrash out-of-service (OOS) condition on
the CMV involved. Single-vehicle
attributable crashes are those for which
the MCMIS event code description did
not indicate a collision with a
pedestrian; a motor vehicle in transport;
an animal; work zone maintenance
equipment; or other/unknown movable
object or ‘‘other.’’ It was hypothesized
that the critical reason for these two
types of crashes would be assigned to
the CMV if the PARs were reviewed.
Analysis results suggest that the coding
of single-vehicle crashes without a PAR
review is feasible, but is dependent
upon accurate data as to the number of
vehicles involved. For crashes with a
pre-crash OOS condition, PAR
reviewers did not assign the critical
reason to the CMV in a majority of cases
as they did not consider the post-crash
inspection results, but the PAR alone.
Question 2: Would a crash weighting
determination process offer an even
stronger predictor of crash risk than
overall crash involvement, and how
would crash weighting be implemented
in the SMS?
This portion of the crash weighting
analysis assumed PAR sufficiency and
reliability and looked at whether a crash
weighting methodology in the SMS
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Crash Indicator BASIC would provide a
sharper view of the highest risk motor
carriers by identifying motor carriers
with higher future crash rates. Crash
weights were derived based on (1) the
critical reason assignments for the
10,892 PARs that were reviewed; and (2)
on 671 single-vehicle attributable
crashes identified in the MCMIS.
The Agency employed various
statistical and analytical approaches to
assess crash weighting benefits. The
analysis used crash data from 2009–
2010 to define Crash Indicator
percentiles, then tracked the future
(January 2011 to June 2012) crash rate
of motor carriers above the Intervention
Threshold.
The analysis applied two approaches
for modifying crash weights and
analyzed the effect of each on the crashpredictive strength of the current Crash
Indicator. The first applied higher
severity weights for crashes where the
critical reason was assigned to the CMV
and for single-vehicle attributable
crashes and applied lower weights for
crashes that were reviewed but not
assigned to the CMV. The second
approach simply removed crashes that
were reviewed but not assigned to the
CMV. Both of these approaches were
applied to the same two sets of crashes:
All crashes and fatal crashes only.
Results showed that modifying the
Crash Indicator by changing the crash
weights based on a motor carrier’s role
in a crash does not appear to improve
its ability to predict future crash rates
when all crashes are considered.
Modifying the Crash Indicator to
include crash weighting improves its
ability to predict future crash rates
when only fatal crashes are considered.
When the crash weighting methodology
was applied, the carriers that were
identified for intervention had future
crash rates that are 1.8 percent to 5.0
percent higher, when removing crashes
not assigned to the CMV during the PAR
review. Fatal crashes are, however, less
than 3 percent of all crashes in the
MCMIS.
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Missing PAR
data
82.0%
47.5
32.8
1.1
1.0
Question 3: How might FMCSA manage
the process for making crash weighting
determinations, including public input
to the process?
The objective of this part of the
analysis was to identify how a crash
weighting process might be structured
and, based on this process, estimate the
resources required for both start-up and
ongoing implementation.
Implementing a crash weighting effort
on a national scale requires a method for
uniformly acquiring the final PARs for
all or a subset of crashes; a process and
system for uniform analysis; and a
method for receiving and analyzing
public input.
It must be noted that FMCSA does not
currently receive PARs from the States
and that they may be difficult to obtain,
due to the requirements for secure data
collection and storage, which creates a
significant, albeit unknown, cost to the
Agency. The annual costs for reviewing
and coding PARs, including the
acceptance of public input, will vary
depending upon the number of PARs
reviewed, the number of appeals, and
the crash weighting determination
process established by the Agency. This
analysis estimates potential costs of
between $3.9 million and $11.2 million
annually.
The analysis also provided some
insight into the amount of time it would
take to make these determinations. The
data provided some indication that the
timeframe for the entire crash weighting
determination process, from the
submission of the crash report through
the determination process, could be so
significant as to make the value of the
determination questionable for the
purposes of use in the SMS, given the
24-month analysis period used by the
SMS.
IV. Request for Comments
The Agency completed the study to
inform decision making concerning the
feasibility of using a motor carrier’s role
in crashes as an indicator of future crash
risk. Based on the information that is
provided, what steps should the Agency
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 15 / Friday, January 23, 2015 / Notices
take regarding crash and PAR data
quality? Are there other data, research,
or related materials FMCSA should take
into consideration?
Dated: January 16, 2015.
T.F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015–01144 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2000–7363; FMCSA–
2002–12432; FMCSA–2002–12844; FMCSA–
2002–19477; FMCSA–2006–26066; FMCSA–
2008–0266; FMCSA–2008–0340; FMCSA–
2009–0321; FMCSA–2010–0114; FMCSA–
2010–0187; FMCSA–2010–0354; FMCSA–
2010–0385; FMCSA–2012–0040; FMCSA–
2012–0337; FMCSA–2012–0338; FMCSA–
2012–0339]
Qualification of Drivers; Exemption
Applications; Vision
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of renewal of
exemptions; request for comments.
AGENCY:
FMCSA announces its
decision to renew the exemptions from
the vision requirement in the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 27
individuals. FMCSA has statutory
authority to exempt individuals from
the vision requirement if the
exemptions granted will not
compromise safety. The Agency has
concluded that granting these
exemption renewals will provide a level
of safety that is equivalent to or greater
than the level of safety maintained
without the exemptions for these
commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
drivers.
SUMMARY:
This decision is effective
February 25, 2015. Comments must be
received on or before February 23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
bearing the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) numbers: Docket No.
[Docket No. FMCSA–2000–7363;
FMCSA–2002–12432; FMCSA–2002–
12844; FMCSA–2002–19477; FMCSA–
2006–26066; FMCSA–2008–0266;
FMCSA–2008–0340; FMCSA–2009–
0321; FMCSA–2010–0114; FMCSA–
2010–0187; FMCSA–2010–0354;
FMCSA–2010–0385; FMCSA–2012–
0040; FMCSA–2012–0337; FMCSA–
2012–0338; FMCSA–2012–0339], using
any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
DATES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:05 Jan 22, 2015
Jkt 235001
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility;
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590–0001.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal Holidays.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
Instructions: Each submission must
include the Agency name and the
docket number for this notice. Note that
DOT posts all comments received
without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information included in a
comment. Please see the Privacy Act
heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments, go to https://
www.regulations.gov at any time or
Room W12–140 on the ground level of
the West Building, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. The
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) is available 24 hours each day,
365 days each year. If you want
acknowledgment that we received your
comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or
postcard or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting
comments on-line.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5
U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments
from the public to better inform its
rulemaking process. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any
personal information the commenter
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in the system of records
notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Charles A. Horan, III, Director, Office of
Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety, 202–
366–4001, fmcsamedical@dot.gov,
FMCSA, Department of Transportation,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room
W64–224, Washington, DC 20590–0001.
Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315,
FMCSA may renew an exemption from
the vision requirements in 49 CFR
391.41(b)(10), which applies to drivers
PO 00000
Frm 00177
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
3723
of CMVs in interstate commerce, for a
two-year period if it finds ‘‘such
exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety that is equivalent to or greater
than the level that would be achieved
absent such exemption.’’ The
procedures for requesting an exemption
(including renewals) are set out in 49
CFR part 381.
II. Exemption Decision
This notice addresses 27 individuals
who have requested renewal of their
exemptions in accordance with FMCSA
procedures. FMCSA has evaluated these
27 applications for renewal on their
merits and decided to extend each
exemption for a renewable two-year
period. They are:
Sava A. Andjelich (IN)
William Audinwood (NY)
Jose C. Azuara (TX)
Kenneth L. Bowers, Jr. (MN)
Keith E. Breeding (IN)
Lester W. Carter (CA)
Lisa M. Durey (IL)
Matthew T. Eggers (IA)
Dennis E. Fisher (NY)
Andrew G. Fornsel (NY)
Jerry Hall (KY)
Thomas D. Laws (IN)
Harry J. McSuley, Jr. (PA)
Dennis R. O’Dell, Jr. (OK)
Jerry W. Parker (OH)
Dennis W. Pevey (GA)
Gary W. Phelps (PA)
Charles D. Reddick (GA)
Myriam Rodriguez (CA)
Bobby L. Rupe (TX)
Jules M. Sancho, Jr. (LA)
Frank Santak (DE)
Henry A. Shelton (AL)
Gary Wanek (NE)
Keith Washington (IL)
Kenneth J. Weaver (WY)
Cameron R. Whitford (NY)
The exemptions are extended subject
to the following conditions: (1) That
each individual has a physical
examination every year (a) by an
ophthalmologist or optometrist who
attests that the vision in the better eye
continues to meet the requirements in
49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), and (b) by a
medical examiner who attests that the
individual is otherwise physically
qualified under 49 CFR 391.41; (2) that
each individual provides a copy of the
ophthalmologist’s or optometrist’s
report to the medical examiner at the
time of the annual medical examination;
and (3) that each individual provide a
copy of the annual medical certification
to the employer for retention in the
driver’s qualification file and retains a
copy of the certification on his/her
person while driving for presentation to
a duly authorized Federal, State, or local
enforcement official. Each exemption
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
23JAN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3719-3723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01144]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0177]
Crash Weighting Analysis
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FMCSA announces a study to inform decision making about the
feasibility of using a motor carrier's role in crashes as an indicator
of future crash risk in response to stakeholder interest
[[Page 3720]]
and as part of the Agency's commitment to continuous improvement. This
study assesses (1) whether Police Accident Reports (PARs) provide
sufficient, consistent, and reliable information to support crash
weighting determinations; (2) whether a crash weighting determination
process would offer an even stronger predictor of crash risk than
overall crash involvement and how crash weighting would be implemented
in the Agency's Safety Measurement System (SMS); and (3) how FMCSA
might manage a process for making crash weighting determinations,
including the acceptance of public input. This notice advises the
public of the availability of the study report for review and comment,
along with a request for feedback on what steps the Agency should take
regarding crash and PAR data quality.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2014-0177 using any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Each submission must include the Agency name and the docket number
for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments received without
change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The on-line Federal document management system
is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you want
acknowledgment that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting comments on-line.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at
www.dot.gov/privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning this study,
contact Ms. Dee Williams, Chief, Compliance Division, Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC 20590, Telephone 202-366-1812 or by email: dee.williams@dot.gov. If
you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket,
contact Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and
related materials.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2014-0177), indicate the specific section of this
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material
online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of
these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing
address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your
document so the Agency can contact you if it has questions regarding
your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov and
put the docket number, ``FMCSA-2014-0177'' in the ``Keyword'' box, and
click ``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on ``Comment
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box in the following
screen. Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual
or on behalf of a third party and then submit. If you submit your
comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they
reached the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard
or envelope.
FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the
comment period and may change this notice based on your comments.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, go to https://www.regulations.gov and
insert the docket number, ``FMCSA-2014-0177'' in the ``Keyword'' box
and click ``Search.'' Next, click ``Open Docket Folder'' button and
choose the document listed to review. If you do not have access to the
Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the Docket
Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
II. Background
The FMCSA is dedicated to reducing crashes, injuries, and
fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The Compliance, Safety,
Accountability (CSA) program is FMCSA's enforcement model that allows
the Agency and State Partners to address motor carrier safety problems
before crashes occur. The foundation of CSA is the SMS, which
quantifies the on-road safety performance of motor carriers to
prioritize enforcement resources.
The SMS uses recordable crash records involving commercial motor
vehicles (CMVs) that are submitted by the States through the Agency's
Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) to assess motor
carriers' crash risk and prioritize them for safety interventions using
the SMS Crash Indicator. To define recordable crash, the Agency relies
on the definition of ``accident'' found in 49 CFR 390.5, which means
(1) except as provided in paragraph (2) of the definition, an
occurrence involving a CMV operating on a highway in interstate or
intrastate commerce that results in: (i) A fatality; (ii) bodily injury
to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives
medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or (iii) one or
more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the
accident, requiring the motor vehicle(s) to be transported away from
the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle. (2) The term accident
does not include: (i) An occurrence involving only boarding and
alighting from a stationary motor vehicle; or (ii) an occurrence
involving only the loading or unloading of cargo.
A CMV is also defined at 49 CFR 390.5, as any self-propelled or
towed
[[Page 3721]]
motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport
passengers or property when the vehicle: (1) Has a gross vehicle weight
rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or
gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more,
whichever is greater; or (2) is designed or used to transport more than
eight passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or (3) is
designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the
driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
(4) is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of
Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in
a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the
Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.
Because the crash data reported to FMCSA by the States does not
specify a motor carrier's role in the crash, the Crash Indicator uses
all of a motor carrier's recordable crashes, and is not available
publicly. The Crash Indicator does weight crashes based on crash
severity, however, with more weight given to fatality and injury
crashes than to those that meet the definition of an accident only
because one or more vehicles was towed from the scene.
Research on this issue conducted by FMCSA, as well as independent
organizations, has demonstrated that crash involvement, regardless of
role in the crash, is a strong indicator of future crash risk. In fact,
the Crash Indicator is one of the strongest predictors of crashes
within the SMS. FMCSA's recently completed SMS Effectiveness Test (ET)
shows that motor carriers above the Intervention Threshold in the Crash
Indicator have a future crash rate that is 85 percent higher than the
national average (https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/CSMS_Effectiveness_Test_Final_Report.pdf). This document and related
reports are available in the docket of this notice.
Since FMCSA has implemented the SMS, some stakeholders have
expressed concern that the Crash Indicator may not identify the highest
risk motor carriers for intervention because it looks at all crashes
without regard to the role of the carrier in the crash. In response to
stakeholder interest and as part of the Agency's commitment to
continuous improvement, FMCSA has completed a study on the feasibility
of using a motor carrier's role in crashes as an indicator of future
crash risk. The analysis focused only on the three broad questions
below addressing the procedural issues surrounding a crash weighting
program and the feasibility of implementing such a program; it did not
focus on any other implications of the program. The three analysis
questions are separate analyses designed to inform Agency decisions.
Do PARs provide sufficient, consistent, and reliable
information to support crash weighting determinations?
Would a crash weighting determination process offer an
even stronger predictor of crash risk than overall crash involvement,
and how would crash weighting be implemented in the SMS?
Depending upon the analysis results for the questions
above, how might FMCSA manage the process for making crash weighting
determinations, including public input to the process?
The Agency's research plan was posted on the Agency's Web site at
https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/CrashWeightingResearchPlan_7-2012.pdf on July 23, 2012. The resulting report is titled ``Crash
Weighting Analysis'' and is in the docket associated with this notice.
The draft research was peer reviewed, and the peer review
recommendations are also in the docket.
III. Summary of Analysis
The discussion below summarizes the results of the three questions
addressed in this analysis. Each question is addressed independently.
The FMCSA seeks comments on the analyses' approaches and results.
Because FMCSA does not receive PARs from the States, the Agency
created a database for analysis using 10,892 PARs obtained from two
national datasets: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National
Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS).
Depending upon State procedures, most PARs do not indicate the
reason for a crash; therefore, the FMCSA employed a review process
based on the process developed for FMCSA's Large Truck Crash Causation
Study (LTCCS), particularly the methodology for assigning the
``critical event'' and the ``critical reason'' for the critical event.
This methodology focuses on pre-crash events, such as vehicle and
driver actions/movements, driver condition, and the environment at the
crash scene, to identify the circumstances leading to the crash.\1\ The
critical event is the event that immediately led to the crash and that
put the vehicle or vehicles on a course that made the crash
unavoidable. The critical reason is the immediate reason for the
critical event or the failure leading to the critical event, for
example, if a CMV driver drives too fast for the roadway type.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For details on the LTCCS methodology, go to https://www.ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ltccs/default.asp?page=method.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FMCSA reviewed the PARs and determined the critical event and
critical reason to identify a motor carrier's role in a crash and
assign a crash weighting for analysis purposes. In order to derive the
most robust analysis of each study question, the Agency used several
crash data sources, including PARs, the NMVCCS, and the MCMIS.
Question 1: Do PARs provide sufficient, consistent, and reliable
information to support crash weighting determinations?
One of the key questions for this study is whether FMCSA could make
reliable crash weighting determinations based solely on PARs, since the
PAR is often perceived as the most common and timely record of a crash.
This analysis (1) reviewed PAR sufficiency for determining a motor
carrier's role in a crash; (2) compared a sample of PARs with other
data sets to assess the reliability of the information on the PARs; and
(3) assessed the feasibility of identifying (coding) the motor
carrier's role for particular types of crash events without reviewing
the PAR.
In this study, FMCSA reviewed and coded three years of crash data,
a total of 10,892 PARs from the FARS and NMVCCS, to identify the
critical reason for the crash. Ninety-one percent of the PARs met the
criteria to be reviewed for a critical reason determination (at least
one vehicle involved in the crash was a CMV, the CMV was regulated by
FMCSA, and the crash met the criteria for a recordable crash). Nine
percent could not be reviewed because it could not be determined from
the PAR that all of these criteria were met. Of the 91 percent of the
PARs that could be reviewed, 3 percent could not be coded for a
critical reason due to incomplete, inconsistent, or insufficient
information.
The PARs were then reviewed to determine how reliably (or
accurately) they depicted the circumstances of the crash. Specific
fields on the PARs were compared to the information in related fields
in the FARS, which provides more robust information than the PAR alone.
The FMCSA did not attempt to infer these data fields from the narrative
sections of the PAR.
The following table provides an overview of the match rate between
PARs and FARS. The Agency was unable, in this type of analysis, to
establish which record, the PAR or
[[Page 3722]]
FARS, was more accurate, but simply identified the fact that the two
data sources were not in agreement.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data field PAR/FARS match PAR/FARS non-match Missing PAR data
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Driver Contributing Factors...... 12.6%.................... 5.3%.................... 82.0%
First Harmful Event.............. 46.9..................... 5.6..................... 47.5
Traffic-Way Flow................. 52.4..................... 14.9.................... 32.8
Weather Conditions............... 95.7..................... 3.2..................... 1.1
Roadway Surface Conditions....... 96.7..................... 2.3..................... 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FMCSA also compared the critical reasons assigned for this
study with those assigned in matching records from the NMVCCS, which
employs a similar critical reason determination process. The analysis
found that the majority of the critical reason determinations, about 90
percent, matched between these two data sources.
The Agency also assessed the practicality of coding crashes for two
types of crash events using information available in the MCMIS as an
approach to crash weighting that would not require reviewing an actual
PAR: (1) Single-vehicle crashes deemed to be ``attributable'' to the
motor carrier; and (2) both single- and multiple-vehicle crashes with
associated post-crash inspection records indicating a pre-crash out-of-
service (OOS) condition on the CMV involved. Single-vehicle
attributable crashes are those for which the MCMIS event code
description did not indicate a collision with a pedestrian; a motor
vehicle in transport; an animal; work zone maintenance equipment; or
other/unknown movable object or ``other.'' It was hypothesized that the
critical reason for these two types of crashes would be assigned to the
CMV if the PARs were reviewed. Analysis results suggest that the coding
of single-vehicle crashes without a PAR review is feasible, but is
dependent upon accurate data as to the number of vehicles involved. For
crashes with a pre-crash OOS condition, PAR reviewers did not assign
the critical reason to the CMV in a majority of cases as they did not
consider the post-crash inspection results, but the PAR alone.
Question 2: Would a crash weighting determination process offer an even
stronger predictor of crash risk than overall crash involvement, and
how would crash weighting be implemented in the SMS?
This portion of the crash weighting analysis assumed PAR
sufficiency and reliability and looked at whether a crash weighting
methodology in the SMS Crash Indicator BASIC would provide a sharper
view of the highest risk motor carriers by identifying motor carriers
with higher future crash rates. Crash weights were derived based on (1)
the critical reason assignments for the 10,892 PARs that were reviewed;
and (2) on 671 single-vehicle attributable crashes identified in the
MCMIS.
The Agency employed various statistical and analytical approaches
to assess crash weighting benefits. The analysis used crash data from
2009-2010 to define Crash Indicator percentiles, then tracked the
future (January 2011 to June 2012) crash rate of motor carriers above
the Intervention Threshold.
The analysis applied two approaches for modifying crash weights and
analyzed the effect of each on the crash-predictive strength of the
current Crash Indicator. The first applied higher severity weights for
crashes where the critical reason was assigned to the CMV and for
single-vehicle attributable crashes and applied lower weights for
crashes that were reviewed but not assigned to the CMV. The second
approach simply removed crashes that were reviewed but not assigned to
the CMV. Both of these approaches were applied to the same two sets of
crashes: All crashes and fatal crashes only.
Results showed that modifying the Crash Indicator by changing the
crash weights based on a motor carrier's role in a crash does not
appear to improve its ability to predict future crash rates when all
crashes are considered. Modifying the Crash Indicator to include crash
weighting improves its ability to predict future crash rates when only
fatal crashes are considered. When the crash weighting methodology was
applied, the carriers that were identified for intervention had future
crash rates that are 1.8 percent to 5.0 percent higher, when removing
crashes not assigned to the CMV during the PAR review. Fatal crashes
are, however, less than 3 percent of all crashes in the MCMIS.
Question 3: How might FMCSA manage the process for making crash
weighting determinations, including public input to the process?
The objective of this part of the analysis was to identify how a
crash weighting process might be structured and, based on this process,
estimate the resources required for both start-up and ongoing
implementation.
Implementing a crash weighting effort on a national scale requires
a method for uniformly acquiring the final PARs for all or a subset of
crashes; a process and system for uniform analysis; and a method for
receiving and analyzing public input.
It must be noted that FMCSA does not currently receive PARs from
the States and that they may be difficult to obtain, due to the
requirements for secure data collection and storage, which creates a
significant, albeit unknown, cost to the Agency. The annual costs for
reviewing and coding PARs, including the acceptance of public input,
will vary depending upon the number of PARs reviewed, the number of
appeals, and the crash weighting determination process established by
the Agency. This analysis estimates potential costs of between $3.9
million and $11.2 million annually.
The analysis also provided some insight into the amount of time it
would take to make these determinations. The data provided some
indication that the timeframe for the entire crash weighting
determination process, from the submission of the crash report through
the determination process, could be so significant as to make the value
of the determination questionable for the purposes of use in the SMS,
given the 24-month analysis period used by the SMS.
IV. Request for Comments
The Agency completed the study to inform decision making concerning
the feasibility of using a motor carrier's role in crashes as an
indicator of future crash risk. Based on the information that is
provided, what steps should the Agency
[[Page 3723]]
take regarding crash and PAR data quality? Are there other data,
research, or related materials FMCSA should take into consideration?
Dated: January 16, 2015.
T.F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-01144 Filed 1-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P