In November, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed its Most Wanted List, delineating its safety priorities for all modes of transportation in the United States: highway, rail, aviation, marine, and pipeline. The NTSB calls its Most Wanted List a “roadmap from lessons learned to lives saved.”
The NTSB was established in 1967 with the goal of improving safety in national transportation. Two methods the NTSB uses to fulfill its mission are to conduct investigations of transportation accidents and make recommendations to avoid those types of accidents in the future.
The recent Most Wanted List included four recommendations that applied equally to aviation, highway, marine, and railway accidents:
- preventing fatigue-related accidents;
- using recorders to track transportation information and improve safety;
- requiring operators to be medically fit; and
- eliminating distractions.
The remaining items on the Most Wanted List were as follows:
- increasing the use of collision avoidance technology in highway and rail vehicles;
- strengthening occupant protection in aviation, highway, and rail transportation;
- increasing training for pilots to prevent crashes caused by losing control of airplanes;
- improving the oversight of the railway transit industry;
- ending operator impairment of all kinds (drunk and drugged driving); and
- enhancing safety measures for hazardous material transportation in aviation and rail.
The Most Wanted List is the NTSB’s attempt to prioritize safety issues for government and industry. It considers the items on its List as “significant in impact and ripe for action.” These priorities help Congress and state legislatures decide which issues to pursue. They also help industries and even private citizens in their efforts to prevent unnecessary accidents and injuries.
If you or someone you know suffered serious injuries in an accident, please contact Alexander Law Group, LLP immediately to discuss your rights. Call 888.777.1776 right now, for a free, confidential, and personal consultation with one of our attorneys or contact us online.
