The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has reiterated previous recommendations issued in 2001 calling for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create standards for collision warning systems and require their installation on all newly manufactured commercial vehicles, according to NTSB information.
The action follows the board's investigation of an October 1, 2003, tractor-trailer fatal accident at an Illinois toll booth. NTSB determined that if the truck had been equipped with a collision warning system, the crash might have been avoided.
"It's terrible to see an accident like this when we have the technology to prevent it," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V Rosenker. "It's time to put those technologies to work -- saving lives."
The tractor-trailer involved in the accident, moving at about 50 miles per hour, collided into the rear of a 25-passenger specialty bus that traveled forward striking a pick-up truck and pushing it into the rear of another tractor-trailer. Eight passengers on the specialty bus were killed in the accident, according to the NTSB information.