Motor vehicle carriers engaged in the transport of interstate goods within Commercial Zones (CZs) are exempt from the Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (MCSR) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Parts 390-397). There has been concern that disqualified drivers and poorly maintained vehicles may be contributing excessively to motor vehicle accidents in CZs. It was the objective of the study to (1) collect accident data from CZs and identify accidents attributed to disqualified drivers; (2) compare the accident rates of qualified and disqualified drivers; (3) identify CZ accidents caused by vehicle defects; (4) determine how much vehicle mechanical condition non-compliance limits vehicle use to CZ operations; (5) determine the extent that CZ vehicles are subject to state vehicle inspection laws; (6) determine exposure of CZ drivers to various types of highways; (7) determine the number of interstate carriers operating under the CZ exemption; and (8) determine the cost to carriers, using the CZ exemption, of implementing the MCSR in all CZs. To answer these questions, six Commercial Zones were surveyed: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Louisville, Kansas City, Houston, and Los Angeles. Forty-nine motor carriers provided 1974 data on 1460 drivers, who had 387 traffic accidents. These data are used as a basis for extrapolations to the national level.
An Analysis of Commercial Motor Vehicle Accidents in Commercial Zones
1976
207 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Motor vehicle accidents , Common carriers , Collision research , Statistical analysis , Trucks , Maintenance , Motor vehicle operators , Metropolitan areas , Georgia , Pennsylvania , Commercial transportation , Kentucky , Kansas , Texas , California , Safety , Commercial zones