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2A — THE OBSERVER D aily P lanner MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019 LOCAL Truck crashes slightly declining across Oregon By Sam Stites TODAY Oregon Capital Bureau Today is Monday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2019. There is one day left in the year. SALEM — Gagandeep Singh was traveling south on Interstate 5 near Wood- burn when smoke started boiling up from under his Volvo tractor-trailer and fill- ing his driver’s cabin. He pulled to the shoulder and was out investigat- ing when a Freightliner tractor-trailer driven by Rex Hollopeter, 51, of Salem, sideswiped Singh’s. Hollopeter’s truck came to a stop blocking southbound traffic as both trucks burned furiously. The wreck, which hospi- talized Hollopeter, closed the freeway for hours. Then, another truck ac- cident in the northbound lanes snarled traffic even more. The high-profile crashes in October raised fresh ques- tions about the safety record of an ever-increasing num- ber of commercial trucks rolling down Oregon’s high- ways. Yet state data shows that despite the increasing miles put on by truckers, their accidents rates have held steady and even dipped in recent years. In 2008, Oregon saw 2,113 truck crashes on its roads, according to state Transportation Department data. In 2018 — the most recent year for which data is available — there were just 1,408 crashes. That number is surprising given that the number of miles traveled by trucks throughout the state grew by 181 million miles over the decade. Between 2015 and 2018, ODOT data shows there were 5,934 truck crashes. That’s an average of four crashes a day. The highest annual total during that period, 1,608 crashes, came in 2017 when a January blizzard buried and closed roads across the state. Truck drivers were at fault in 50% of crashes while mechanical issues with the truck were at fault in just 2% of cases, state data shows. That means 2,849 crashes were caused by outside fac- tors such as other drivers or brutal weather conditions. ODOT uses police reports to establish where to place fault. Police put the blame on drivers for a number of reasons, but at the top of the list are speeding, failing to remain in their own lane, following too closely, improp- erly changing lanes and failing to pay attention. ODOT won’t release numbers for 2019 until all investigations are finalized to determine fault, but the agency does report its year- to-date numbers to the Fed- eral Motor Carrier Safety Administration halfway through the year. According to federal data, there were 858 truck crashes in Oregon as of June 30, with 23 fatalities and 289 injuries. The early num- bers are on track to meet or slightly exceed Oregon’s average over the previous five years. The Federal Motor Car- rier Safety Administration also rates Oregon for its response to crashes and TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Dec. 30, 1922, Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the estab- lishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991. ON THIS DATE In 1813, British troops burned Buffalo, New York, dur- ing the War of 1812. In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the United States Arsenal in Charleston. In 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago. In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first “sit-down” strike at the General Motors Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan. (The strike lasted until Feb. 11, 1937.) In 1940, California’s first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Park- way connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened by Gov. Culbert L. Olson. In 1942, a near-riot of bobby- soxers greeted the opening of Frank Sinatra’s singing engage- ment at the Paramount Theater in New York’s Times Square. In 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam. In 1979, Broadway com- poser Richard Rodgers died in New York at age 77. In 1989, a Northwest Airlines DC-10, which had been the target of a telephoned threat, flew safely from Paris to De- troit with 22 passengers amid extra-tight security. 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QUOTE OF THE DAY “The meek shall inherit the earth — if that’s all right with you.” — Author unknown Mon-Fri Blue Plate $12: Braised Prime Rib with buttered noodles and green salad Wasteland Kings New Years Eve Acoustic set 9pm Rock ‘n’ Roll 10pm til the Ball Drops 541-963-8766 tendepotstreet.com Photo by Sam Stites/Oregon Capital Bureau Tom Avila inspects a tire that the tire anomaly detection system revealed to have a problem. The pilot program at the Woodburn port of entry implemented helps prevent accidents by notifying drivers when there’s an issue with a tire or axle, something that’s not always obvious when they’re on the road. inspection of trucks. The agency gave the state a “good” rating on its last assessment, with a score of 90% or better in all 10 criteria including inspection timeliness, accuracy and completeness. “I think that rating reflects the importance that safety has in Oregon. It’s our No. 1 priority across all of ODOT,” said David House, spokesman for ODOT’s Mo- tor Carrier Division. According to House, Oregon’s rating isn’t about comparing itself to other states, rather looking at where it can do better in efforts to educate, train and inspect motor carriers across the state. While truck miles trav- eled continue to climb, increasing by 10% between 2008 and 2018, Oregon’s truck crash rate is declin- ing, the state data showed. From 2005 to 2008, Oregon averaged 1.13 crashes per million vehicle miles trav- eled. Between 2015 and 2018, the state’s average dropped to 0.80. Oregon’s crash rate reached its lowest in a decade at 0.73 in 2018 with more than 1.93 billion miles traveled by trucks in the state. All truck at-fault crashes reached a seven-year low in 2018 of just 0.36 crashes per million vehicle miles traveled. “It’s encouraging that the (crash) rate isn’t going up in proportion to vehicle miles traveled. That doesn’t mean we can’t make it better and improve things through enforcement, education, engineering of roadways and emergency response,” House said. In 2016, ODOT adopted a new transportation safety plan that envisions zero deaths on Oregon’s roads by 2035. The Motor Car- rier Division is responsible for three of the four areas crucial to ODOT’s vision: education, enforcement and emergency response. Those functions are administered from 173 inspection and weigh sta- tions located throughout Oregon, but only a handful are open full-time. Those include the ports of entry in Ashland, Woodburn, I would like to thank my valued customers, residential & commercial Wishing you a Merry Christmas & Safe & Happy New Year! Don’s Lawn Service Klamath Falls, Cascade Locks and Huntington. The trucking industry is mostly regulated by the federal government, but licensing and registration is handled by states. That means education plays a huge role in the state’s ef- forts to continually improve safety. In that effort, ODOT has a partner in the Oregon Trucking Associations, the trade organization of close to 600 members that advocates for Oregon’s truck companies and drivers. The organization also provides training and information on new rules and regulations related to safety. Jana Jarvis, trucking association president, said that clamping down on distracted driving is a top priority. “We work closely with the Motor Carrier Division and try to give them feedback on what see works and doesn’t work,” said Jarvis. “Safety is the No. 1 priority for our organization.” Jarvis and Waylon Buchan, the association’s director of government af- fairs, lobby at the state and federal level. In recent years, the biggest change they’ve seen to improve safety was a federal mandate to use electronic logbooks to bet- ter track driver hours and enforce breaks. Before the 2017 mandate, drivers did their logbooks by hand, al- lowing some drivers to fudge their numbers to continue driving and earning. Jarvis said the trucking association supported the change. “We’re always going to have safety as part of the calculation whether sup- porting or not supporting something because ulti- mately we want our drivers and passengers on the road to get home safely,” Jarvis said. Enforcement of regula- tions is also an important part of ODOT’s safety equation, but the agency’s attitude toward enforcement has shifted in recent years from punishing truckers and trucking companies to educating them. In 2018, the Motor Car- rier Division completed 18,549 inspections and issued more than 3,500 warnings and citations. That’s down from the 22,573 inspections Motor Carrier completed in 2016. By mid-November, the agency had issued more than 2,900 warnings and citations from 16,516 inspec- tions. Drivers can be cited for improper maintenance of critical systems includ- ing brakes or how loads are secured, weight viola- tions, failure to maintain a medical exam certificate, outdated registration and not carrying chains when required. Most of those cita- tions require the driver to fix the issue within a certain amount of time, others carry monetary penalties. According to data, one in five citations is serious enough that inspectors place a truck out of service until fixes can be made on the spot or the truck towed. That’s on par with national statistics. “If safety is your prior- ity, then enforcement isn’t about punishment, it’s about education,” House said. “We don’t want to punish you or put you out of business. We want you to do it right.” Jeff Brown, Motor Carrier Division safety manager, agreed. Instead of bringing a heavy-handed approach, he instructs his 105 inspectors statewide to encourage driv- ers to ask questions. For Brown, preventing ac- cidents and massive traffic disruption caused by crash- es like the fiery Woodburn incident begins with those contacts between inspectors and drivers, where ODOT can be an ally rather than antagonist. “I would love to be a resource for every driver out there to try to help. I think it’s critical that we do that,” Brown said. “We have to enforce regulations, and sometimes that’s unfortu- nate, but at the same time, the more informed everyone is out there, the better off we are.” Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part story. The second part will run in Wednesday’s Observer. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS This offer won’t hang around long. Subscribe today! THE OBSERVER’S SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT TO YOU Buy a three month subscription to T HE O BSERVER and get one month free! 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