Transportation safety

At the direction of the U.S. Congress under the Commercial Motor Vehicles Safety Act of 1986, national standards were developed for every individual driving commercial motor vehicles in the country. The regulations (49 CFR Part 383) were finalized by the Federal Highway Administration on July 1, 1988). 

These regulations establish uniform guidelines for licensing and testing of drivers that all states must use as a basis of issuing licenses to drivers domiciled in their states. All drivers of commercial motor-carrier vehicles must pass written and skill tests demonstrating their knowledge and ability to drive a commercial motor vehicle. After that date no one in the United States may operate a commercial motor vehicle unless they possess a valid commercial drivers license (CDL). 

Off-Road Vehicle Any motor vehicle that is utilized away from au interstate road to transport machinery, compost, etc., for company tasks, but whose operator does not require a CDL. 

FMCSR Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 

It is the responsibility of management to ensure the following rules and regulations and recommended practices are complied with to maintain a comprehensive transportation safety compliance program. 

As the population and the economy of the United States grew during the Laissez Faire Revival, the reality of safety regulation in the rapidly evolving transportation sector did not match its great potential. The political appointees 

Three months after President Clinton s belated appointment of Ricardo Martinez, an injury specialist from Emory University, to head NHTSA, the Gingrich Congress began to lob bombs at his agency. University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman s much-criticized theory that vehicle safety regula- 

A series of eharter bus accidents culminating in a dramatic May 1999 New Orleans erash put the obscure OMC in the public spotlight. Congress responded with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Amendments of 1999, whieh ereated FMCSA, assigned it all of OMC s employees and responsibilities, and provided some additional regulatory authorities, ineluding the power to require operators to install black box event recorders to monitor vehicle speeds and hours of operation.  

The three assaults on regulation during the Laissez Faire Revival had a noticeable impact on the pace at which the transportation safety agencies promulgated protective regulations and on the content of those regulations. The agen- 

Side-impact collisions between SUVs and sedans were among the deadliest of all traffic accidents. Passenger-side airbags did not solve the problem, because the high frames of the much heavier SUVs could come crashing through 

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Jet fuel is subject to particular attention in all operations that precede and accompany its use in accordance with the draconian air transport safety regulations (Anon., 1983). 

A DOT regulation covers both domestic and international shipping (9). For transportation safety, the DOT has information for first responders to incidents involving elemental phosphoms (10). In addition, the Chemtrec phone number 1-800-424-9300 accesses DOT emergency information and assistance in the United States. Also, the phosphoms producers in the United States have estabUshed a Phosphoms Emergency Response Team (PERT) to assist in handling P emergencies. 

Transportation Safety Act, Title 49 U.S. Coast Guard, Title 46... 

Particulate emissions have their greatest impact on terrestrial ecosystems in the vicinity of emissions sources. Ecological alterations may be the result of particulate emissions that include toxic elements. Furthermore, the presence of fine particulates may cause light scattering, known as atmospheric haze, reducing visibility and adversely affecting transport safety, property values, and aesthetics. 

Carriers and the chemical industry are working together to improve transportation safety. The American Association of Railroads has agreed to designate routes that handle 10,000 loads per year or more of chemicals as Key Routes." Routes designated as Key Routes will receive upgraded track, enhanced equipment to detect flaws in equipment or in trackage, and lower speed limits. 

The CMA Inter-Agency Task Group has proposed many initiatives to improve transportation safety. For example, the shipment of environmentally sensitive material in General Purpose rail cars will be phased out by the year 2000 and DOT Specification 105 pressure cars will be used instead. 

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Safety Recommendations, P-75-14 and 15, 1975. 

A National Transportation Safety Board Railroad Accident Report (1973) describes the accident which occurred in a shunting yard in East St. Louis, Illinois. Arriving cars are classified in the yard, then delivered to outbound carriers. On arrival, cars are inspected. They are then pushed up a mound, uncoupled, and allowed to roll down a descending grade onto one of the classification tracks. This process is called humping. Cars are directed and controlled by a computerized switching and speed-control system. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1971. Highway Accident Report Liquefied Oxygen tank truck explosion followed by fires in Brooklyn, New York, May 30, 1970. NTSB-HAR-71-6. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1972. Railroad Accident Report—Derailment of Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad Company s Train No. 20 with Resultant Fire and Tank Car Ruptures, Crescent City, Illinois, June 21, 1970. NTSB-RAR-72-2. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1973. Highway Accident Report—Propane Tractor-Semitrailer overturn and fire, U.S. Route 501, Lynchburg, Virginia, March 9, 1972. NTSB-HAR-73-3. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1973. Railroad Accident Report—Hazardous materials railroad accident in the Alton and Southern Gateway Yard in East St. Louis, Dlinois, January 22, 1972. NTSB-RAR-73-1. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1979. Pipeline Accident report—Mid-America Pipeline System—Liquefied petroleum gas pipeline rupture and fire, Donnellson, Iowa, August 4, 1978. NTSB-Report NTSB-PAR-79-1. 

Local partial confinement or obstruction in a vapor cloud may easily act as an initiator for detonation, which may propagate into the cloud as well. So far, however, only one possible unconfined vapor cloud detonation has been reported in the literature it occurred at Port Hudson, Missouri (National Transportation Safety Board Report 1972 Burgess and Zabetakis 1973). In most cases the nonhomogeneous structure of a cloud freely dispersing in the atmosphere probably prevents a detonation from propagating. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1972. Pipeline Accident Report, Phillips Pipe Line Company propane gas explosion, Franklin County, MO, December 9, 1970. National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC, Report No. NTSB-PAR-72-1. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) states the railroad brakeman at Graniteville the evening before the tragedy could not remember setting the track switch in a safe position when he quit work about 7 p.m. on January 5,2005. 

Strength There was good coordination with Avondale plant officials in developing recovery plans. GVW representative attended daily NTSB (National Transportation Safety Bureau) briefings. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found much evidence to indicate the probable cause of the January 6, 2005, collision and derailment of Norfolk Southern train 192 in Graniteville, South Carolina, was the failure of the crew of Norfolk Southern train P22 to return the main line switch to the normal position after the crew completed work at an industry track. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the puncture of the ninth car in the train, a tank car containing chlorine, which resulted in the release of poison gas. 

Collision of Norfolk Southern Freight Train 192 With Standing Norfolk Southern Local Train P22 With Subsequent Hazardous Materials Release at Graniteville, South Carolina January 6, 2005, Railroad Accident Report NTSB/RAR-05/04. Washington, D.C. National Transportation Safety Board. 

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 2000. Hazardous Materials Accident Brief Whitehall, Michigan, Chemical Reaction During Cargo Transfer, June 4, 1999. 

Hazardous Materials Incident Reports National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Retrieved information... 

It is common for crash investigators to undertake reconstruction of the aircraft wreckage, and this can be exceptionaUy useful in estabhshing the seat of an explosion, if that is what in fact took place. The National Transportation Safety Board in the United States and the United Kingdom Air Accident Investigation Branch have both done some exceptionaUy fine work of this type. 

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