According to an audit of the federal administration’s motor carrier safety rating system, the system is based on inconsistencies and inaccurate data, rendering the results ineffective in helping reduce the risk of accidents.
The audit was conducted by the Government Accountability Office, which says that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rating system needs to undergo a few changes for it to become much more subjective and effective.The rating system that was the subject of the audit is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The program has been designed to compare bus and trucking companies, and rate them based on their performance in traffic safety compliance. The point is to rate these companies, and then identify those carriers that have a long history of violations, and therefore, need more oversight. The belief is that greater oversight of these companies could help reduce the risk of truck accidents involving these carriers.
Los Angeles trucking accident lawyers believe that this is a stellar goal, and a rating system that is designed to specifically identify problem carriers, could help reduce the risk of accidents. However, according to the audit, the problem is that very often, the rating system makes use of inaccurate data that is inconsistent, and may not result inaccurate results. Therefore, the rating system results in several motor carriers being given good ratings or safe ratings based on inaccurate data.
The Government Accountability Office wants the federal administration to make modifications to its rating system, specifically its Safety Measurement System rating tool, in order to ensure that the system accounts for limitations in comparing safety performances across motor carriers, even though this could result in fewer carriers receiving a safe rating.
