Overtaking

• Do not try to overtake unless it is very necessary for you to do so.

• not overtake on narrow roads at a bridge and at places where overtaking is prohibited.

• Never overtake unless you are sure that you can do so without endangering yourself or any-one else.

• Allow other vehicles to pass or overtake you, when they desire to, as and when the road and traffic conditions permit you to do so. Unnecessary racing for fun should be avoided.

• Never accelerate when being overtaken.Some Duties Of Drivers/Owners Of Motor Vehicles Duty to obey traffic signs. Overtake only on the right, unless the driver in front of you has signaled that he is turning right.

• Do not overtake when you cannot see the road ahead, at a corner or a cross-road or around a bend.

• Beware of "Go Ahead" signals given by persons other than the driver.

• Overtake only when there is no on-coming vehicle and when sufficient space lies ahead.

• Overtaking during night is more dangerous, take more care.

Crash Reporting

One of the most common oversights identified in the national review of crash reports was a unification of enforcement regulations and crash data collection guidelines that were intended to be applied independently. Although the enforcement and crash data collection efforts support one another under the umbrella safety goal, they differ in their application. The enforcement effort involves action by application of a set of codified regulations (FMCSRs) under a controlled environment such as a roadside inspection. The crash reporting effort involves collection of data from a population of vehicles defined in the selection criteria. (See Examples Below)

Identification Process

The information for the motor carrier responsible for the trip on which the crash occurs should be recorded on the crash report. This may or may not be the company on the vehicle door or trailer. In order to determine the carrier responsible and locate that carrier's information, it is important to utilize all the sources of information available. A procedural approach to accurately obtaining the information should include the following sources.

• Examination of the side of the vehicle. (See Below)
  

• of the driver. (See Below)
  

• Examination of the shipping papers or bus manifest for this trip can provide the name of the motor carrier responsible for the load, but is not a good source for the USDOT.

Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010

The purpose of the CSA 2010 initiative is to develop more effective and efficient methods for FMCSA, together with industry and state partners, to achieve its mission of reducing commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
Key Features of CSA 2010 are to:

• Increase the opportunity to have contact with more carriers and drivers;

• Use more and better data to improve performance measurements for identifying high risk carrier and driver behaviors; and

• Apply a wide range of interventions to correct these high risk behaviors before they become chronic and habitual.

If you have any questions or comments about the CSA 2010 initiative, please send us your feedback.

Driver Fatigue Monitoring in Onboard Recorders – Initial Assessments

This study builds off previous research and takes information regarding driver alertness state and integrates it with electronic onboard recorder data to provide carrier management real-time fatigue monitoring data. This data will help to predict and educate drivers to obtain adequate rest before operating a commercial motor vehicle. This information can also be used to guide individual rest and napping breaks while assisting carrier management in developing company rest policies.

Safety Effectiveness of Speed Limiters

Understanding speed as a highway safety issue necessitates accurately defining the relationships between speed limits, travel speeds, and safety. Additional data is needed to evaluate adaptive speed control systems for altering vehicle speed based on roadway conditions and the appropriate speed limit. Joining before-and-after test focusing on the safety benefits of adaptive speed systems provides an important opportunity for FMCSA and carriers to work together on research design and implementation efforts, with the shared objective of improving safety. This type of testing requires a commensurate effort to collect and share valuable data. In addition, FMCSA would facilitate testing and information sharing by developing a systematic way to collect and evaluate data from before-and-after testing that would typically exceed the available resources of industry stakeholders. As a result, the purpose of this project is to identify safety impacts of adaptive speed control technologies for adjusting vehicle speed to the posted speed limit. This project will be conducted in cooperation with NHTSA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Indirect Viewing System and Related Tests

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and FMCSA have a joint project underway with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) involving the use of Camera/Video Imaging Systems (C/VISs) in large trucks to improve visibility. Both mirror surrogates and enhancements are being studied and tested. Mirror enhancements provide the driver with images that are presently unavailable from standard mirror configurations (e.g., elimination of blind spots). Mirror surrogates provide the driver with the same or similar images that are available from standard mirror configurations. In the first part of this project, the tests are limited to conventional video systems, with cameras at appropriate locations on the exterior of the vehicle and with video monitors in the cab at locations that have been selected on the basis of human factors considerations and preliminary testing.

The second part of this project is directed at enhancing C/VISs for night and poor visibility conditions. Following this part of the project, further development of the enhanced C/VIS is planned, so that it can operate reliably outside of a controlled setting (i.e., Smart Road) and to test it in an over-the-road setting field test.