In 1998, North Carolina ranked fourth in the nation in terms of the number of truck-involved fatal crashes. As part of an effort to reduce fatal truck-involved crashes, the NCDMV, working with other law enforcement agencies in the State, increased commercial motor vehicle (MV) enforcement activity in 21 North Carolina counties identified by the NCDOT as having the most truck-involved crashes. Increased CMV enforcement consisted of (i) a major increase in the number of roadside inspections; (ii) an increase in the number of vehicles and drivers placed out of service as a result of those inspections; (iii) an increase in the number of citations written for serious CDL violations (e.g., travelling in excess of 15mph over the poster limit, reckless driving, erratic lane changes, following too closely, etc.); (iv) an increase in the number of public education efforts (e.g.,‘No-Zone’); and (v) development of adjudication tracking and judicial outreach program. In addition, the DMV Enforcement section, in conjunction with the NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP), enlisted the analytic and program evaluation support of the UNC Highway Safety Research Centre. The product of these combined and co-ordinated efforts was 17.7 percent reduction in the number of fatal truck-involved crashes from FY98 to FY99 in the 21 county area of increased enforcement attention. Fatal truck-involved crashes in the non-targeted area increased by 7.6 percent during this same period, and were correlated with decreases in roadside inspections and vehicle/driver out-of-service actions. State-wide, there was a 48 percent increase in the number of roadside inspections conducted in FY99 (129 percent increase in the 21 county area). In the 21 county area, increased inspection activity resulted in a 20 percent increase in the number of vehicles placed out of service and an 89 percent increase in the number of drivers placed out of service. In the non-targeted counties, the number of vehicles placed out of service decreased by 36 percent; the number of drivers placed out of service decreased by 14 percent. In FY99, there were increases in citations state-wide for serious DL traffic offences ranging from a 50 percent increase in erratic lane change citations to a nearly 300 percent increase in citations for reckless driving. Citations for truck speeds in excess of 15 mph over the posted limit increased by approximately 150 percent. CDL traffic violations/citations are currently being analysed to determine the level of increase in the 21 county area, per se. Efforts to track the judicial outcomes of citations issued for these offences, while showing an increase in ‘as-charged’ convictions, showed significant room for improvement. While DMV enforcement efforts in FY99 were successful in reducing the number of fatal truck-involved crashes in the areas of targeted enforcement, North Carolina was among the poorest in Region 4 in terms of its efficiency in entering inspection and accident data into SAFETYNET. A significant backlog of reports in FY99,along with manpower and personnel constraints and SAFETY availability problems,contributed to North Carolina’s performance. In FY2000, results of the new truck safety legislation passed under H.B.303 will be evaluated as well as NCDOT operational efforts such as selected lane restrictions for trucks. DMV efforts at increased ‘partnering’ with other law enforcement agencies in the state will continue as will efforts toward increased judicial outreach and public awareness/education. The introduction of a new consolidated crash data form, the installation of laptop computers and ASPEN soften into MCSAP patrol vehicles are expected to significantly improve the timeliness of data entry and upload problem in the coming fiscal year. Looking beyond FY2000, the main goal of DMV Enforcement will be to formulate a ‘model’ for effective CMV enforcement and crash reduction that can be feasibly applied on a state-wide basis. Before attempting to extend this ‘increased enforcement’ approach to the rest of the state, or at a minimum, to those additional counties with ‘emerging’ MV safety problems, a more careful evaluation of DMV resource allocation alternatives (to include increased partnering and shared MV responsibilities) is required. Recognising that current enforcement methods are to a great extent resource constrained by available personnel and equipment, it is highly recommended that serious attention be given to the innovative use of available technology, especially that which can be used to more effectively automate the process of vehicle speed control. Likewise, efforts must continue to work with the traffic engineering and commercial vehicle safety components of the NCDOT to identify more effective means of avoiding the high frequency of fatal truck-involved angle crashes noted in the 1993-97 GHSP analysis as occurring at rural intersections and other unsignalised access points. And lastly, there must continue to be a strong emphasis on safety in North Carolina’s efforts to implement key components of the VISN program and other commercial vehicle programs within the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
Samenvatting