“Our message is loud and clear. If you drive drunk you will be arrested and prosecuted,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.
FAA determined that 286 of the airline’s MD-80s were operated on a combined 14,278 passenger flights while the aircraft were not in compliance with federal regulations.
"Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States is treated in an emergency department for crash-related injuries, and nearly 40,000 people die from these injuries each year,” said Dr. Grant Baldwin, director of CDC’s Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
An extensive accident investigation conducted by PHMSA found Enbridge failed to safely and adequately perform maintenance and repair activities, clear the designated work area from possible sources of ignition, and hire properly trained and qualified workers.
On July 28, an engineering task force of a passenger safety working group for the Federal Railroad Administration was asked to concentrate on developing crashworthiness and occupant protection recommendations, with an eye toward projects planned in California and Florida.
The Transportation Research Board's Aug. 25-26 meeting in Washington, D.C., available as a webcast, looks at every aspect -- safety culture, drivers, vehicles, infrastructure, EMS -- to develop a national strategy.
High-heat procedures are now required for five industries when temperatures reach 95 degrees or above: agriculture; construction; landscaping; oil & gas extraction; and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction material, or other heavy materials.
BLS said the economy "played a major role" in the drop from 2008's final count of 5,214 workplace deaths to its preliminary 2009 total, 4,340. Almost every sector and type showed an improvement, notably construction and mining.
The proposed rule would require them for each passenger seat and the driver's seat on passenger buses and large school buses. Comments are due by Oct. 18 on the rule, which would not require retrofitting buses now in service.
An advisory committee to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will hear from international experts two weeks from now, then write recommendations to be delivered in December.
Besides adopting the lower laboratory testing cutoffs for cocaine and amphetamines, DOT's final rule will add MDMA (ecstasy) initial and confirmation testing to its program. But it did not adopt alternative specimens, such as hair testing.
Starting Aug. 16, carriers in all states can log on to FMCSA's data preview website "to see where they stand, and start taking corrective action prior to our scheduled implementation later this year," as Anne Ferro, the agency's administrator, said recently.
The board promised it will be balanced, including railroads, tank car owners, shippers, and others. Its goal: Deliver recommendations within two years to solve the vexing question of liability for rail toxic by inhalation hazard shipments.
The companies allegedly offered hazardous material for transportation when it was not packaged, marked, classed, described, labeled, or in condition for shipment as required by regulations.
Public affairs representatives and national news personnel will advise airlines' public affairs staffs about managing communications after a major accident or incident in the age of social media.
Rather than be deflated by the news that drivers in Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Antonio, and Birmingham are the worst in the country at keeping their tires properly inflated, hundreds in those areas can get free RMA tire gauges today, if their vehicles can get them there.
An Aug. 10-11 meeting of the DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program office with the Institute of Transportation Engineers' IntelliDrive Task Force is taking place during ITE's annual meeting there.
“Tank truck rollovers are considerably more dangerous when they involve hazardous materials,” said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman. “Improved cargo tank truck driver safety will also benefit the general public that shares the highways.”
Organizations can download the Drive Safely Work Week 2010 Tool Kit free of charge through Sept. 20 when they complete a simple online survey. The week is a partnership of NETS and DOT, which will present a Distracted Driving Summit on Sept. 21.
Accident reconstruction experts examined 624 injury accidents in seven European countries involving at least one heavy truck. Truckers caused 25 percent of the ones linked to human error, they concluded.