Lowering interstate CDL age limits brings more risk than reward
There are more impactful solutions to improve road and driver safety, writes Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
While our nation has been experiencing supply chain challenges, we also are experiencing catastrophic conditions on our roadways with recently released crash fatality figures for last year revealing that nearly 43,000 people were killed, a 16-year high. This included an increase in large truck-involved crashes which killed 5,601 people, a rise of 13%, the highest number of fatalities in a single year since 1988.
Research, data and real-world experience prove that young, inexperienced drivers have higher crash rates than older drivers with more experience, and motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds. Lowering the minimum age for interstate truck drivers from 21 to 18, a proposal advanced as a pilot program in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58) and highlighted in the PropertyCasualty360.com article, “Is that 18-year-old driving your commercial truck?” will not address the underlying problems causing the truck driver retention issue, but it will imperil both the teens behind the wheel of the big rigs and everyone sharing the roads with them.
The rate of fatal crashes involving drivers of large trucks increases as age decreases. Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers under the age of 19 are four times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes, and CMV drivers between the ages of 19-20 are six times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes. In fact, younger CMV drivers are involved in a higher rate of fatal crashes until about the age of 27. This evidence has compelled safety, industry, crash victim, consumer and public health groups to oppose misguided efforts to allow “teen truckers” to operate in interstate commerce for decades.
Is there a driver shortage?
The push by some members of the trucking industry to take teenagers from high school hallways and put them behind the wheel of CMVs on high-speed highways predates the COVID-19 pandemic and current attention on supply chain challenges, often within the context of a so-called “driver shortage.” However, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) study found no evidence to support the contention.
Further, the U.S. Department of Labor has found that states issue more than 450,000 new commercial driver licenses (CDLs) each year, demonstrating that there are candidates to fill vacancies. Retention is influenced by a number of factors such as working conditions and a grueling schedule, as well as safety. In fact, truck driving is one of the most dangerous occupations, according to the BLS.
While the problems are clear, so are the solutions. Actions by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have the potential to reverse this upward trend while also improving conditions to help retain drivers.
Specifically, the U.S. DOT must expeditiously advance minimum performance standards requiring new trucks be equipped with advanced driver assistance systems including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning and blind spot detection. Large trucks with AEB experience 41% fewer rear-end crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). While some proponents have touted the AEB requirement in the federal government’s “teen trucker” pilot program, this could in fact set up a very dangerous situation wherein they learn to drive with the technology, only to end up in a truck that does not feature the equipment after training. This underscores the importance of having AEB in all new CMVs.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced its intent to consider another lifesaving technology improvement, speed limiters. Additionally, large truck safety would be enhanced by improving regulations to prevent motor vehicles from traveling underneath a truck during a collision, known as underride crashes. Current regulations do not require underride guards on the sides of large trucks, and the standards for rear underride guards need to be strengthened, an upgrade directed by the IIJA.
In addition to improving trucks, Congress and the U.S. DOT can do more to enhance driver safety. This means rejecting efforts to further erode rules governing how long drivers can be behind the wheel, known as hours of service (HOS); advancing a rule to require testing and treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, a known contributor to driver fatigue and higher crash rates; and, maintaining and strengthening rules requiring the use of electronic logging devices, which provide a mechanism to check compliance with HOS.
Lastly, making the roadways less dangerous benefits everyone. This can be achieved by improving the infrastructure and setting speed limits that account for all road users, not just motor vehicles.
Escalating the number of “teen truckers” on the roads and expanding the areas in which they are licensed to drive poses real risks to the drivers and all those around them. Doing so also sidesteps the real problems plaguing the industry. Instead, policymakers and government officials should be accelerating the adoption of available actions to improve safety and save lives.
Cathy Chase is president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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