Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Exemption Renewal for DriveCam, Inc. |
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Topics: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, DriveCam
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Larry W. Minor
Federal Register
April 18, 2011
[Federal Register: April 18, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 74)]
[Notices]
[Page 21791-21792]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap11-118]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2008-0312]
Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Exemption
Renewal for DriveCam, Inc.
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of renewal of exemption; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA renews the exemption requested by DriveCam, Inc.
(DriveCam) which allows the placement of video event recorders at the
top of the windshields on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). CMVs may
continue to use the video event recorders to increase safety through
(1) identification and remediation of risky driving behaviors such as
distracted driving and drowsiness; (2) enhanced monitoring of passenger
behavior for CMVs in passenger service; and (3) enhanced collision
review and analysis. The Agency has concluded that granting this
exemption renewal will maintain a level of safety that is equivalent to
or greater than the level of safety achieved without the exemption.
However, FMCSA also solicits comments and information on the exemption,
especially from anyone who believes this standard will not be
maintained.
DATES: This decision is effective April 16, 2011. Comments must be
received on or before May 18, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) number FMCSA-2008-0312 by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington,
DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room W12-140, DOT Building,
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and
docket number for this notice. For detailed instructions on submitting
comments and additional information on the exemption process, see the
``Public Participation'' heading below. Note that all comments received
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided. Please see the ``Privacy Act''
heading for further information.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to Room W12-140,
DOT Building, New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Federal
Docket Management System (FDMS) is available 24 hours each day, 365
days each year. If you want acknowledgment that we received your
comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard
or print the acknowledgment page that appears after submitting comments
on-line.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement for the FDMS published in the Federal
Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316) or you may visit http://
edocket/access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside
Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations,
MC-PSV, (202) 366-0676; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315(b)(1), FMCSA may renew an
exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for a 2-
year period if it finds ``such exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would
be achieved absent such exemption.'' DriveCam has requested a two year
extension of the current exemption from 49 CFR 393.60(e)(1). The
procedures for requesting an exemption (including renewals) are set out
in 49 CFR part 381.
Basis for Renewing Exemption
DriveCam applied for an exemption from 49 CFR 393.60(e)(1) to allow
the use of video event recorders on all CMVs. FMCSA published a notice
of the application, and requested public comments, on October 31, 2008
(73 FR 65008). On April 15, 2009, FMCSA published a notice of final
disposition granting the exemption (74 FR 17549).
Recently, FMCSA completed a driving behavior management system
study that involved installing video event recorders in two commercial
carrier fleets and collecting data using the systems. In June 2010,
FMCSA released a report titled ``Evaluating the Safety Benefits of a
Low-Cost Driving Behavior Management System in Commercial Vehicle
Operations,'' which outlined this study and its results. The two
carriers that participated in the study experienced a reduction in
safety-related events per 10,000 miles of over 38 percent at one
carrier and over 52 percent at the other. In addition, they found that
severe safety-related incidents decreased by more than 59 percent and
44 percent, respectively. The report is available on FMCSA' Web site
at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/research-/FMCSA-RRR-10-
033.pdf.
On September 28, 2010, the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) published Highway Accident Report NTSB/HAR-10/02, ``Truck-
Tractor Semitrailer Rear-End Collision into Passenger Vehicles on
Interstate 44 Near Miami, Oklahoma, June 26, 2009.'' In this report,
NTSB issued two safety recommendations to FMCSA relating to the use of
video event recorders:
Safety Recommendation H-10-10: ``Require all heavy commercial
vehicles to be equipped with video event recorders that capture data in
connection with the driver and the outside environment and roadway in
the event of a crash or sudden deceleration event. The device should
create recordings that are easily accessible for review when conducting
efficiency testing and systemwide performance-monitoring programs.''
Safety Recommendation H-10-11: ``Require motor carriers to review
and use video event recorder information in conjunction with other
performance data to verify that driver actions are in accordance with
company and regulatory rules and procedures essential to safety.''
In support of these safety recommendations, the report noted:
* * * VERs [video event recorders] can provide information not
typically available through other investigative means, potentially
allowing a more accurate determination of probable cause. In the
case of the Miami accident, a forward-looking video could have
provided investigators more information on the actions of the
vehicles ahead of the accident truck and their visibility, and an
interior video could have allowed investigators to entirely rule out
medical incapacitation or distraction and
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identify periods of reduced vigilance. The NTSB concludes that had
the accident truck been equipped with a VER, a more definitive
assessment of the driver's precrash condition and behavior would
have been possible * * *
The NTSB has long advocated the use of recording devices as a
means of quantifying operator and vehicle behaviors in other modes
of transportation. NTSB investigations have benefitted from the
presence of data, video, and audio recorders in most modes of
transportation, and it is evident from FMCSA-funded research that
VER data are being used on a routine basis by transportation safety
managers to reduce risky behaviors by their drivers through
structured safety-performance-monitoring programs * * *
The Miami accident investigation shows not only the value of
having scientific, unbiased data available when investigating and
reconstructing highway transportation accidents but also the value
of having video-based event data to correlate with analog and
digital EDR data to establish a driver's condition and state of
attention. Heavy commercial vehicle industry members could also
realize safety, cost, and other benefits by installing VERs in all
their vehicles. Therefore, the NTSB recommends that the FMCSA
require all heavy commercial vehicles to be equipped with VERs that
capture data in connection with the driver and the outside
environment and roadway in the event of a crash or sudden
deceleration event. The device should create recordings that are
easily accessible for review when conducting efficiency testing and
systemwide performance-monitoring programs. Further, the NTSB
recommends that the FMCSA require motor carriers to review and use
VER information in conjunction with other performance data to verify
that driver actions are in accordance with company and regulatory
rules and procedures essential to safety.
NTSB/HAR-10/02, at 67, 68.
Renewal of the existing exemption to enable the continued voluntary use
of video event recorders is consistent with the NTSB's efforts to
expand the use of such technology as noted above.
On May 15, 2009, FMCSA received a letter from Karen S. Burstein,
counsel for Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 101 (``Local 101''),
requesting temporary suspension of the DriveCam exemption. Local 101
expressed concerns regarding the use and installation of video event
recorders on CMVs operated by National Grid, a utility operator in the
northeastern United States. A copy of this letter was placed in the
docket established by FMCSA for its notice of the DriveCam application
for an exemption and request for public comments (Docket No. FMCSA-
2008-0312).
FMCSA determined that the information provided by Local 101 did not
warrant suspension of the exemption. Local 101 did not provide specific
evidence that safety was compromised through use of the video event
recorders. With respect to drivers' field of view, FMCSA concluded
that, provided the video event recorders are positioned within the top
two inches of the area swept by the windshield wiper, as specified in
the 2009 exemption, drivers' vision is not impacted any more than
when--for example--the sun visor is lowered. As noted in the original
exemption, trucks and buses generally have an elevated seating position
which greatly improves the forward visual field of the driver, and any
impairment of available sight lines is minimal.
However, as a result of the letter from Local 101, FMCSA requested
(1) that DriveCam place in the docket specific mounting instructions
for its video event recorder unit, and (2) that DriveCam
representatives visit National Grid to review installation of the video
event recorder units in its vehicles. DriveCam satisfactorily addressed
both of these requests.
Exemption Decision
FMCSA is not aware of any evidence showing that the installation of
video event recorders on CMVs, in accordance with the conditions of the
original exemption, has resulted in any degradation in safety. FMCSA
continues to believe that the potential safety gains from the use of
video event recorders to improve driver behavior will improve the
overall level of safety to the motoring public.
The exemption is renewed subject to the requirements that video
event recorders installed in commercial motor vehicles be mounted not
more than 50mm (2 inches) below the upper edge of the area swept by the
windshield wipers, and located outside the driver's sight lines to the
road and highway signs and signals. The exemption will be valid for two
years unless rescinded earlier by FMCSA. The exemption will be
rescinded if: (1) Motor carriers and/or commercial motor vehicles fail
to comply with the terms and conditions of the exemption; (2) the
exemption has resulted in a lower level of safety than was maintained
before it was granted; or (3) continuation of the exemption would not
be consistent with the goals and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and
31315.
The Agency believes that extending the exemption for another two
years will likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or
greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption
because (1) based on the technical information available, there is no
indication that the video event recorders obstruct drivers' views of
the roadway, highway signs and surrounding traffic; (2) trucks and
buses generally have an elevated seating position which greatly
improves the forward visual field of the driver, and any impairment of
available sight lines is minimal; and (3) the location within the top
two inches of the area swept by the windshield wiper and out of the
driver's normal sightline is reasonable and enforceable at roadside. In
addition, the Agency believes that the use of video event recorders by
fleets to deter unsafe driving behavior is likely to improve the
overall level of safety to the motoring public. Without the exemption,
FMCSA would be unable to continue to test this innovative safety
management control system.
Request for Comments
FMCSA requests comments from parties with data concerning the
safety record of CMVs equipped with video event recorders by May 18,
2011. The Agency will evaluate any data submitted and, if adverse
evidence suggests that safety is being compromised or if continuation
of the exemption would not be consistent with the goals and objectives
of 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA will take immediate steps to
revoke the DriveCam exemption.
Issued on: April 13, 2011.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011-9319 Filed 4-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P