NTSB Safety Recommendations aim to decrease vehicle rollover.

Press Release Summary:



With articles H-11-18 through -20, NTSB made several recommendations to AASHTO. These recommendations concern working with Federal Highway Administration to evaluate vehicle design characteristics specific to rollover thresholds of heavy trucks, developing best practices in highway design, developing and implementing best practices to aid identification of locations that pose rollover hazard, and developing guidance for bridge pier protection program.



Original Press Release:



NTSB Safety Recommendations H-11-18 through -20 and H-95-39



The National Transportation Safety Board makes the following recommendations to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials:

Work with the Federal Highway Administration to evaluate vehicle design characteristics specific to the rollover thresholds of heavy trucks, including those having cargo tanks. Use the information obtained to develop best practices in highway design that will mitigate the increased rollover risk caused by reduced effective superelevation through changes in cross slope that high center of gravity commercial vehicles experience when they migrate onto the shoulder while negotiating curve sections of high-speed highways. Also, incorporate the findings in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials publication A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. (H-11-18)

If the results of the evaluation in Safety Recommendation H-11-18 warrant such action, work with the Federal Highway Administration to develop and implement best practices to assist state transportation agencies in identifying existing locations where cross-slope breaks pose a rollover hazard, placing an emphasis on those roadways having high volumes of heavy truck traffic, and develop appropriate strategies for mitigating the hazard. (H-11-19)

Work with the Federal Highway Administration to develop guidance for a bridge pier protection program that will allow state transportation agencies to conduct risk-based assessments of bridges located within highway interchanges. At a minimum, the program should consider each structure's redundancy, continuity, and distance of bridge pier columns from the edge of traveled ways. Additionally, consider traffic volumes, traffic type, and the percentage of commercial vehicles transporting bulk liquid hazardous materials in identifying and prioritizing initiatives for preventing vulnerable bridges at high-risk interchanges from collapsing if struck or otherwise damaged by a heavy vehicle. (H-11-20)

In addition, Safety Recommendation H-95-39 to AASHTO is classified "Closed-Reconsidered" in the "Cross-Slope Break" section of the accident report's Analysis.

http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/2011/H-11-018-020.pdf

The complete recommendation letter is available on the Web at the URL indicated above.

The letter is in the Portable Document Format (PDF) and can be read using the Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later from Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html).

An archive of recommendation letters is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/letters.htm.

Electronic versions of letters may or may not include enclosures; however, related publications, accident briefs, and aviation accident synopses may be found on the NTSB website.

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