* DC - NTSB critical of FMCSA regarding trash hauler collision with CSX train
(Photo from Associated Press: BALTIMORE COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT - Shows what remained of a trash hauler after a collision with a CSX freight train in Rosendale, Md. The collision caused a chemical explosion that critically injured the truck driver, rattled windows miles away and sent a plume of black and gray smoke high in the air)
Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker News Services -22 Oct 2014: --
The National Transportation Safety Board Wednesday criticized the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for the agency’s handling of a trucking company involved in a May 28, 2013, train/truck collision, 15-car derailment and subsequent explosion in Rosedale, Maryland... The NTSB said the accident was caused by the truck driver’s failure to ensure that the tracks were clear before traversing an un-gated highway-rail grade crossing. Contributing to the accident was the truck driver’s distraction due to a phone conversation on a hands-free device at the time of the crash, the NTSB said... The board found that Alban Waste, the owner of the vehicle, demonstrated “a consistent and serious pattern of noncompliance” with federal motor carrier regulations from the time that the company registered as a carrier until the crash... It also found that FMCSA was aware of problems with Alban Waste but did not take adequate steps to ensure that the carrier complied with federal regulations, or, failing that, to prevent Alban Waste from operating...
* DC - Study: Handheld phone enforcement doesn't cut crashes
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -October 24, 2014: -- High enforcement of bans on hand-held driver phone use bans led to a drop in violations, but no decline in insurance claims for crashes, a study released Friday said... The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety looked at claims after two high-profile federally funded enforcement efforts by local and state police in the Hartford, Connecticut, and Syracuse, New York between April 2010 and April 2011... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration project was aimed at cracking down on hand-held phone use and texting — both illegal under state laws... After this high-intensity enforcement, the number of drivers observed holding a hand-held cellphone to their ear fell 57 percent in Hartford and 15 percent in the comparison communities of Bridgeport and Stamford, Connecticut. In Syracuse, the number of drivers observed engaged in hand-held phone conversations declined 32 percent. At the same time, the practice also decreased in the comparison community of Albany, New York, by 40 percent... It's the latest research to suggest that handheld cell phones alone are not resulting in a decline in distracted driving crashes. Previously studies have shown no link between states that banned handheld cell phone use and the number of traffic crashes...Labels: dangerous drivers
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