The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released data following the first weeks of operation of its Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse has detected and identified nearly 8,000 positive substance abuse tests of commercial drivers since January 6, 2020. The clearinghouse now has more than 650,000 registrants.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released of $562 million in grants for highway safety programs to Offices of Highway Safety in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, United States territories, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. “These highway safety grants will help save lives by addressing impaired driving, promoting seat belt use, improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety and funding other important traffic safety efforts,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

Convergence Training / RedVector, a Vector Solutions brand and award-winning producer of online safety training and learning management tools with a specialization in delivering 3D modeling and course animation, has released 13 new driver safety courses to inform employees about driving hazards and train them in safe driving techniques.

A truck driver who was terminated for refusing to drive in dangerous weather must be reinstated by his employer, Freight Rite, Inc. OSHA issued that order – along with stiff penalties - after determining that the employee told Freight Rite management “of his reasonable apprehension of danger to himself and to the general public due to the hazardous road conditions”.

Making sure headlights are aimed where they should be aimed and incorporating collision avoidance technology are two ways to improve pedestrian safety in the U.S., according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The steady increase in pedestrian fatalities caused by vehicle crashes – which have risen every year since 2009 – caused the NTSB to issue a Pedestrian Safety Special Investigation Report based on its investigations into 15 highway crashes between April 24 and Nov. 3, 2016 in which vehicles struck and killed pedestrians. Some 5,987 pedestrians were killed in 2016 because of vehicle crashes.

Consumer advocates are attacking a bill heading for a vote soon in the U.S. Senate that would clear legal obstacles for the deployment of driverless cars — a proposal that, critics say, lacks safeguards needed to protect the public and largely would let vehicle manufacturers regulate themselves. The measure, which is being pushed by auto and tech industry lobbyists, is called the AV START Act, standing for “American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies.”

Many high-risk traffic situations between motorcycles and other motor vehicles could be prevented if vehicle drivers were better able to detect and anticipate the presence of a motorcycle when entering or crossing a road, making a turn or changing lanes.

Two school bus crashes in 2016 – in Maryland and Tennessee – had something in common, according to the National Transportation Safety Board: (NTSB) a lack of oversight when it came to making sure the bus drivers were fit to drive. The two incidents were included in a recently released NTSB Special Investigation report identifying recurring safety issues in school bus transportation safety.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released a study last week that finds that the percentage of fatally-injured drivers with known drug test results* who tested positive for drugs has risen over 50% in the last ten years.

A little preparation can go a long way toward make sure your summer travels by car will be safe ones. That’s the message the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is trying to get across to motorists in a dedicated page chock full of safety tips, a video and a downloadable safety checklist that drivers and passengers should follow before, and during, their trips.