Each year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) releases its “Most Wanted List” with 10 critical transportation safety improvements needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives. The goal of the list is to increase awareness of these serious safety issues and promote viable solutions to address them.
Once again, NTSB’s “Most Wanted List” includes a push to end substance impairment in transportation. Most substance-impaired driving crashes involve motor vehicles, but these crashes can also involve planes, trains, ships, and even pipelines. Alcohol is a primary concern in these crashes. The NTSB notes that while public education efforts have helped raise awareness about the serious consequences of drunk driving, many drivers are still not aware that even low levels of intoxication can substantially raise the chances of having a crash. In addition, the NTSB cites recent research that shows over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, and illicit drugs also significantly contribute to incidents of impaired driving.
To address the problem, NTSB recommends better post-crash data collection to determine if alcohol or drugs played a factor; greater documentation and reporting of crash data; an increased use of high visibility enforcement; expanded use of technology; and measures that target repeat offenders, including DWI Courts.
The goals on the NTSB’s 2015 Most Wanted List are:
- Disconnect from Deadly Distractions
- End Substance Impairment in Transportation
- Enhance Public Helicopter Safety
- Implement Positive Train Control in 2015
- Improve Rail Tank Car Safety
- Make Mass Transit Safer
- Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation
- Require Medical Fitness for Duty
- Strengthen Commercial Trucking Safety
- Strengthen Procedural Compliance
Watch the video below to learn more about the NTSB’s 2015 Most Wanted List.
