NHTSA nearing truck rollover prevention rule

WASHINGTON – Mandatory stability control systems for highway trucks could prevent nearly 3,500 rollover-related accidents and save over 100 lives a year, the National Transportation Safety Board heard this week.

According to the Associated Press, Nathaniel Beuse, director of crash avoidance standards at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told the NTSB at a hearing that the agency is wrapping up studies on the benefits of requiring stability control technology on trucks by the end of the year.

Based on research by the NHTSA and the University of Michigan, Beuse said stability control would prevent 106 highway deaths and 4,400 injuries annually. 

Rollovers reportedly occur in only about 13 percent of heavy-truck fatal crash involvements, but they account for 50 percent of truck-occupant fatalities.

The safety board is holding a two-day hearing examining whether enough is being done to prevent tank trucks from rolling over. The meeting was prompted by an accident in Indianapolis last October in which a tanker truck carrying propane ran off a busy interstate, rolled over and exploded.

Stability control systems – whether roll stability control (RSC) or electronic stability control (ESC), have proven to prevent jackknifes, rollovers, and other accidents involving a loss of vehicle control.

The system’s computer senses loss of control and then automatically applies the brakes individually to the wheels, while controlling vehicle understeer and oversteer.

Tank trucks are most susceptible to rollovers, the NTSB heard, because the weight distribution of bulk liquids carry can shift suddenly during sharp turns or movements, causing a vehicle imbalance.

As well, drivers often have little or no warning before they’re about to roll over.

Tankers only represent 6 percent of large trucks, but account for 31 percent of all fatal commercial truck rollover crashes.

A decision on mandating the technology is expected by the end of the year, with possible implementation in 2012.