U.S.
Department of Transportation
Office of
Public Affairs
Washington,
D.C.
www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm
News
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
FMCSA 14-00
Thursday, August 29, 2000
Contact: Dave Longo
Telephone: 202-366-0456
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Slater
Invites
Public to Help Develop
Long-Term
Truck, Bus Safety Strategy
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced a two-way public communication
process to assist in developing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's
(FMCSA) long-term strategy to improve truck and bus safety, called the
2010
Strategy and Performance Plan
.
"This communication
process will enable us to increase our ability to listen to our stakeholders and
the public, and develop strategies for preventing crashes involving large trucks
and buses," Secretary Slater said. "President Clinton and Vice
President Gore believe that information technology is increasingly important for
full participation in America's economic, political and social life, and this
process takes full advantage of the Internet to support safety, our highest
priority."
The Internet discussion
site,
http://spp.fmcsa.dot.gov
,
will allow the public to view and comment on research papers in progress, review
draft safety action plans, and submit to FMCSA suggestions and alternate motor
carrier safety strategies about how to improve truck and bus safety over the
next 10 years.
As the U.S. Department of
Transportation's lead agency of this public communication initiative, FMCSA,
in cooperation with the Department's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Federal Highway Administration, will prepare a 10-year truck
and bus safety strategy. FMCSA expects to complete and send the
2010 Strategy
and Performance Plan
to Congress by the end of this year.
A direct link to the
discussion site and more detailed information about the project is available at
FMCSA's web site at
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov
.
Visitors may download
posted papers and draft plans about topics including an assessment of the truck
and bus crash problem; FMCSA's draft mission, vision, and goals statement; key
commercial vehicle safety challenges and potential solutions; and a series of
papers about safety trends in the commercial motor vehicle industry.
FMCSA will review and
consider all comments and alternate ideas received through Dec. 15, 2000 before
completing the
2010 Strategy and Performance Plan
.
A feature meant to
encourage two-way communication enables web site visitors to register to receive
automatic periodic e-mail notifications as new documents are posted. For those
who do not have Internet access, FMCSA has opened a docket for public comments
(Docket No. FMCSA 2000-7645). All documents posted on the web site will also be
available in the public docket. Written comments may be submitted to the USDOT
Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20590, or by e-mail to http://dms.dot.gov.
Meanwhile, the FMCSA
continues to seek comments on its hours-of-service rulemaking announced on April
25, 2000. The comment period for this rulemaking has been extended until Dec.
15, 2000. Comments on the April 25 proposal may be sent to the USDOT Docket
Facility, Attn: Docket FMCSA-97-2350, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C.
20590. The proposal may be viewed on the Internet after searching at
http://dms.dot.gov
.
Comments also may be submitted electronically at this site.
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