Last year, roughly 4,000 Americans lost their lives in commercial vehicle accidents. While that number represents a nearly 5 percent decrease in fatalities since 2010, still far too many people lose their lives in accidents related to safety violations by large commercial truck and bus companies.

In an effort to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently announced new policies aimed to identify truck and bus companies that may pose increased safety risks.

Prevention is key, and through the implementation of these new policies FMCSA officials hope to identify and correct safety concerns and violations that may otherwise contribute to serious or fatal accidents.

Included in the policy are new guidelines aimed to reduce the number of driving accidents that result from fatigue. In accordance with the new measures, truck divers will only be able to work a maximum of 70 hours per week. They will also need to abide by a mandatory rest period based on the number of hours they have worked during a seven day timeframe.

In addition, the new FMCSA regulations take aim at drivers and truck and bus companies that are violating safe driving and equipment regulations. Stricter rules related to the identification of safety violations including the transport of hazardous materials, weight limits and safe driving practices will be more closely monitored and reported.

With the implementation and adoption of the new safety regulations, the FMCSA is hopeful the number of commercial vehicle accidents will continue to decrease.

Source: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, "FMCSA Sharpens Focus on High Risk Truck and Bus Companies with Improvements to Compliance Safety Accountability Program," Aug. 24, 2012