Check exterior body panels and fittings

• Exterior body work including mudguards, bullbars, roof racks etc on a vehicle have exposed sharp edges (including corrosion or accident damage) that could injure a person who comes into contact with that part of the vehicle

• Mudguards are not properly fitted to provide protection over the full width of the wheels and tyres and any mudguard does not extend inboard over the full width of the tyre/s (except where part of the body of the vehicle acts as a mudguard)

• The bottom edge of mudguard and/or mudflap at the rear of any vehicle is higher off the ground that 1/3 of the horizontal distance between the centre of the axle and the mudguard

• Spray suppression devices are not fitted to ‘B’ Double combinations in accordance with Rule 33 Australian Vehicle Standard Rules or in those states that have granted exemption (

Safety Belt Enforcement Programs

• ` Occupant Protection Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (sTEPs) involve periods of highly visible safety belt law enforcement combined with extensive media support. These programs are a proven method to rapidly change motorists' safety belt use behavior. Successful Occupant Protection sTEPs have been documented in Canada, Europe, and the United States.

• Highly visible enforcement of safety belt laws is a core strategy to increase safety belt use. States and communities have greater success in achieving increased safety belt use when there is strong enforcement of the law, along with effective media support.27 This strong enforcement of safety belt laws sends the message that the State takes safety belt use laws seriously. Ultimately, this leads to greater compliance.

• The Click It or Ticket (CIOT) model has been enormously successful in increasing safety belt use at the community, State, and regional level. This nationwide initiative, a partnership involving NHTSA, the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, and hundreds of law enforcement agencies, increased national belt use by four percentage points in 2003.28 Safety belt use increased again in 2004, reaching an all-time high of 80 percent.

Check mirrors

1. Any reflective surface of a compulsory rear view mirror:


• has a missing section;
• is cracked;
• is deteriorated;
• is obscured;
• where fitted to the right side, does not have a flat surface of at least 150cm2 (it may also incorporate a curved portion).


2. Mirrors are not securely mounted or missing;
3. Any compulsory left side mirror does not have a reflecting surface of at least 150 cm2;
4. Any compulsory mirror does not provide a clear view of the road to the rear of the vehicle.

Visually inspect fuel lines, joints and connections

• where the vehicle body or chassis members do not provide protection for fuel lines under the vehicle, the piping is not shielded or encased in a protective sleeve;

• the sleeving of any fuel line routed under the vehicle is damaged such that the fuel line is exposed;

• any supporting clips (required to be spaced at intervals of 600mm) are missing or do not provide effective support to the fuel line;

• any provision has been made to allow use of the gas fuel for purposes other than as automotive fuel.

Check fifth wheels/turntables

• Where ADR 62 applies, the fifth wheel/turntable does not display the manufacturer’s name/trademark, nominal size (eg 50mm) and the gross mass rating;

• The mating parts of a coupling used to connect a semi-trailer to a towing vehicle allow the semi-trailer to roll to an extent that makes the towing vehicle unstable (eg quick release turntable fitted to a ballrace turntable);

• The top and bottom mounting flanges have insufficient effective fasteners (eg ballrace);

• Fasteners either side of the mounting frame, plate or pivot brackets are insufficient or ineffective;

• Fifth wheel/turntable mounting plate or sub frame assembly securing bolts are missing, broken or loose, or the fasteners are "U" bolts;

• There is movement between the fixed mounting components;

• There is more than 5 mm horizontal movement between:

Check brake components

• Abrasions or cuts on brake hoses penetrate further than the outer protective covering;

• Brake pipes, hoses and connections are cracked, broken, kinked, crimped, damaged by heat or have visible signs of leakage, swelling or bulging;

• Brake drums or discs are not fitted or have missing pieces, or cracks other than short heat cracks inside the drums;

• Drums or discs are worn beyond manufacturers specifications;

• Any caliper, wheel cylinder or master cylinder leaks;

• Linings or pads are contaminated with oil, grease or brake fluid;

• The thickness of the linings or pads is less than the manufacturer’s recommended minimum. If this is not known or is no longer appropriate, the thickness of the linings or pads is less than

Check brake components

• Brake pedals do not have an anti-slip surface across the complete surface;

• Brake pedals or handles are broken or missing;

• Brake control mountings, pivots, cables or links are kinked, loose, broken, excessively worn or binding;

• A ratchet or locking device on a parking brake control does not hold the parking brake in the applied position;

• Park brake control can be released with only one action;

SafeStat

SafeStat (short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System) is an automated, data driven analysis system designed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). SafeStat combines current and historical carrier-based safety performance information to measure the relative (peer-to-peer) safety fitness of interstate commercial motor carriers and intrastate commercial motor carriers that transport hazardous materials. This information includes Federal and State data on crashes, roadside inspections, on-site compliance review results and enforcement history. SafeStat enables FMCSA to quantify and monitor the safety status of individual motor carriers on a monthly basis and thereby focus enforcement resources on carriers posing the greatest potential safety risk.

The States are required to provide standard, basic information about large truck and bus crashes to FMCSA within 90 days of the crash event, and the results of roadside inspections within 21 days of inspection. However, the completeness, timeliness and accuracy of crash data – and to a lesser extent roadside inspection data – vary from state-to-state. Accordingly, SafeStat’s ability to accurately and objectively assess the safety fitness of individual motor carriers may be inconsistent and not conclusive without additional analysis.

Going Home for the Playoffs

When their 16-year-old son Gabriel missed his Friday night curfew, Charles and Maureen Puccia started to fear the worst. They wouldn’t know for hours that Gabe had died with two teenage friends in a crash earlier that night.

Gabe’s night started out without much of a plan. He and some friends were supposed to meet at a pancake house, but only a few people showed up. That’s when Gabe and others headed home to watch the playoffs. None had been drinking, and they had only two miles to drive. But 17year-old Matt was going about twice the speed limit when the car veered off the road and hit a tree.

Gabe’s parents had to make several calls just to get the news.“He had one of those little earrings in his ear, and a special jacket he had bought in Italy,” Charles recalls. “And the guy at the hospital said,‘I think we have your son.’ Our grief is for Gabe’s loss, not our own — to not know what we could have done for him and to not watch him find whatever it was he wanted in life.”

Now the Puccias focus on their younger son, Emilio.“This is a case where we’re willing to go all the way, enforcing the graduated licensing law to the utmost and beyond.”

Motor Carrier Matching

Complete and accurate carrier information is very important when qualifying vehicles recorded on a State's accident report are entered into the Crash Module of SAFETYNET. This collection of crash data allows FMCSA to identify carriers who are potentially “unsafe” for application of enforcement measures. To perform this identification, carriers involved in qualifying crashes are "matched" to their profile compiled in the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Their profile is a historical record of inspection and safety audit information recorded in the SAFETYNET Inspection Module combined with the data collected in the Crash Module. In order for FMCSA to take appropriate action, the process of matching carriers to the proper record is critical.

Carrier Identification

The information on interstate or intrastate carriers is provided to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which uses the data to target unsafe carriers for more in-depth investigations. A poor safety record can lead to a carrier losing its operating authority. Missing or inaccurate carrier information when reporting on a qualifying crash can allow “unsafe” carriers to escape regulation or cause “safe” carriers to inappropriately have their safety records affected. Consequently, when reporting crashes it is critical to report the correct carrier name, number and address.

NOTE: The companies and carriers shown in the photographs on this site are included for illustrative purposes only. These images in NO WAY indicate or imply unsafe or improper operating practices by those pictured.

Safety and Security Technology Deployment

Over the past several years, FMCSA has been involved in efforts to test, evaluate, and encourage the deployment of onboard safety and security systems, such as collision warning systems with adaptive cruise control, stability control systems, lane departure warning systems, and vehicle tracking systems. Through systematic deployment planning for onboard systems, FMCSA continues to be engaged in industry-government partnerships to conduct studies and relay information to promote commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and security.

Through this collaboration, functional specifications were developed to relay a better understanding of the functions of onboard safety and security systems and to provide insight into the safety and efficiency benefits of using the systems. FMCSA has recently released Commercial Motor Vehicle Onboard Safety and Security Systems Technology Product Guides on its website, which provides a portfolio of existing and emerging safety and security system technologies for the motor carrier industry. The purpose of this information on this site is to assist carriers, drivers, fleet managers, and other interested individuals in learning more about available safety and security systems. Currently, FMCSA is working on completing analyses of the costs and benefits of these systems and assessing the use of the systems by the industry. In the future, FMCSA plans to perform expanded testing of onboard safety systems to identify and resolve technology adoption issues, confirm and extrapolate safety and productivity benefits to the broader industry, and develop focused deployment efforts to promote expanded adoption of the systems by industry.

Safety Belt Technology to Increase Comfort and Safety – SBIR, Phases I and II

Based on the finding in the Safety Belt Countermeasure Study, FMCSA will initiate a Safety Belt SBIR Project starting FY 2007. Phase 1 is Proof of Concept. Phase 2 is principal R&D. (Participation in the SBIR program is Congressionally directed.) FMCSA research has shown that about 55% of commercial motor vehicles (vehicles 10,000 pounds or greater that operate in interstate commerce) drivers buckle their safety belt as compared to abut 85% of passenger vehicle drivers. Increasing safety belt usage by commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers is an FMCSA and DOT priority. It is envisioned that this device will be low cost, reliable, comfortable, rugged, and user-friendly, to increase comfort and/or encourage safety belt usage by CMV drivers. Ideas such as window stickers or other similar decals to remind a driver to buckle up will not be considered for this program. Proposers were required to certify that to the best of their knowledge, no such product exists, has been patented, or is patent pending. Examples of potential concepts, if they do not already currently exist for CMVs as discussed above, could include safety belt attachments such as uniquely designed pads or cushions and electronic monitors in connection with onboard recorders.

Visually inspect the LPG/NGV or CNG container

• the boot lid torsion bars, coil springs or hinges contact the container;

• the container and its surface mounted fittings are not protected from damage by vehicle component (e.g. tail shaft) failure;33

• where mounted within a cargo space the container is not protected from impact from cargo or other objects carried in that area, i.e. it is not installed within an enclosed protective compartment;

• the container or its gas carrying components are located within 150mm of a heat source and there is no heat shield;

• the container is incorrectly aligned so that it impedes access to the container service valve;

• the container is incorrectly aligned so that it impairs the operation of the ullage valve or the automatic fill limiter (AFL);

• Where containers installed on or after 1 July 1988 have a wall thickness marked to be less than 2.2mm:

Safety and Security Technology Deployment

Over the past several years, FMCSA has been involved in efforts to test, evaluate, and encourage the deployment of onboard safety and security systems, such as collision warning systems with adaptive cruise control, stability control systems, lane departure warning systems, and vehicle tracking systems. Through systematic deployment planning for onboard systems, FMCSA continues to be engaged in industry-government partnerships to conduct studies and relay information to promote commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and security.

Through this collaboration, functional specifications were developed to relay a better understanding of the functions of onboard safety and security systems and to provide insight into the safety and efficiency benefits of using the systems. FMCSA has recently released Commercial Motor Vehicle Onboard Safety and Security Systems Technology Product Guides on its website, which provides a portfolio of existing and emerging safety and security system technologies for the motor carrier industry. The purpose of this information on this site is to assist carriers, drivers, fleet managers, and other interested individuals in learning more about available safety and security systems. Currently, FMCSA is working on completing analyses of the costs and benefits of these systems and assessing the use of the systems by the industry. In the future, FMCSA plans to perform expanded testing of onboard safety systems to identify and resolve technology adoption issues, confirm and extrapolate safety and productivity benefits to the broader industry, and develop focused deployment efforts to promote expanded adoption of the systems by industry.