Each year, the National Transportation Safety Board releases a list of the safety improvements it wants to target. The “Most Wanted List” identifies areas that the NTSB believes should be a priority in improving transportation safety. The 2016 list is scheduled to be released on January 13, 2016, at a press conference in Washington D.C.
The Most Wanted List is often home to long-running areas of concern. In 2015, the List included the goal to end substance impairment in transportation. Alcohol and drug impairment has been a known problem in transportation safety for decades. In 2015, the NTSB advocated for a range of countermeasures, including traditional methods such as increased police enforcement and new solutions like Driver Alcohol Detection systems and passive alcohol sensors in vehicles.
Another goal of 2015 was to strengthen commercial trucking safety. The NTSB emphasized the need for greater oversight of vehicles, truck drivers and operators. It called on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to improve their efforts to ensure that the trucks on the road are operated safely.
The Chairman of the NTSB, Christopher A. Hart, acknowledged that the list typically includes items that are “among the most challenging transportation safety issues.” It also tends to cover the full spectrum of transportation in the U.S. Past list entrants have covered commercial and general aviation safety, rail safety, bus and mass transit safety and issues covering passenger vehicle safety. The goal is to advocate for improvements that will have a legitimate impact on reducing accidents and injuries stemming from transportation accidents.
Source: National Transportation Safety Board, “NTSB to Unveil 2016 Most Wanted List in January,” 17 December 2015
