Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration January 23, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

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 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.