Frequently Asked Questions
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are questions and answers about Compliance,
Safety, Accountability (CSA) that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) compiled to assist the public. As questions come in through the website,
FMCSA adds them to the database along with their answers. If you do not see your
question or topic addressed, please
contact us
by submitting a feedback form. We will respond to you directly and consider your
question for inclusion in the FAQs.
The FAQ area has recently been enhanced. Users can now search FAQs by stakeholder
group, topics (displayed on the left side of the page), or by entering a keyword
below. Choosing “Show All” will display the entire collection of FAQs.
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If the citation I acquired while in my commercial motor vehicle is thrown out in
court, can I get the roadside inspection violation that resulted from the same behavior
from the same incident removed from my Safety Measurement System (SMS) record?
Answer
The majority of roadside inspections nationwide are done by
FMCSA's State Partners, who conduct over 3.5 million roadside inspections on
commercial motor vehicles and drivers each year. Presently, the State that
submitted the roadside inspection data is tasked with removal of violation data from an inspection record based
upon a court adjudication. All documentation concerning the court’s
adjudication and findings should be submitted as part of an RDR through the
FMCSA’s DataQs system. This information is then routed to the respective agency
for consideration.
The uniformity and consistency of the State’s review and
action in addressing all RDRs is very important to the Agency. FMCSA guidance therefore
recommends that State DataQs analysts exercise reasonable discretion and good
judgment by carefully reviewing the reason for the dismissal, based on any and
all available information, and determine whether fairness dictates removal of
the violation from the State and Federal databases. FMCSA does not recommend or require that
States reject RDRs seeking removal of dismissed violations. This guidance may
be found in the current DataQs User Guide and Manual (Best Practices for State
Agency Users), which is publicly available on our website at
https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov. The FMCSA is currently reviewing the issue of
dismissed citations and their inclusion in SMS.
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link)