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By Ossa Fisher
Every day, countless drivers face a critical danger that often goes unnoticed: the peril of being roadside on the highway. When you pull over to the side of the road, other vehicles drive by — often over the speed limit and without moving to an adjacent lane — and put you at risk of a collision. Whether it’s a trucker checking a tire, a road worker setting up cones or a first responder answering a call for help, the roadside is one of the most dangerous places for a person to be.
This issue became clear when I was training to get my CDL. Professional drivers highlighted how the current warning systems – flares and warning triangles – require you to exit your vehicle and place them manually within 10 minutes of your vehicle stopping on the roadside. This puts you only a few feet away from high-speed traffic, and is exactly as dangerous as it sounds.
It’s no surprise, then, that the statistics on roadside collisions are staggering. A AAA study found that from 2015 to 2021, over 1,600 people were struck and killed while outside a disabled vehicle. A separate study reported that speeding, distraction, fatigue and impairment are major causes of these tragic collisions, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that roadside accidents involving large trucks are a significant contributor to these numbers.
We need to allow new solutions that will help keep drivers safe. Warning triangles and flares are virtually the same as when the Department of Transportation mandated their use over 50 years ago and have not evolved to meet the demands of today’s dynamic driving environment — nor are other technologies permitted.
To address this need, it is essential we apply the same innovation principles that brought us lifesaving technologies like seat belts. While early vehicles had no seat belts, allowing introduction of lap belts and eventually the three-point belt led to meaningful improvements in safety. Evolving our safety systems to meet the changing transportation environment is essential.
One solution to improve roadside safety for commercial trucks is easily visible flashing lights mounted at the top of the cab. The lights are already used by emergency and construction vehicles, and studies have shown these high-visibility solutions are as effective as road triangles — with the added benefit that they can be safely activated from within the cab instead of requiring drivers to exit the vehicle to set up warning triangles by hand.
Just this week, the American Trucking Associations submitted a letter to the FMCSA requesting that the agency grant an active request to allow commercial trucks to use flashing lights as a warning device. This is in response to an application submitted over 16 months ago on which our industry is still awaiting a final decision.
I’m calling on the rest of the trucking community to join ATA and the OEMs, fleets and technology developers asking for regulatory permission to use these safety tools. While flashing warning lights won’t solve all roadside dangers, they can be highly valuable for making transportation safer. You can join this safety coalition and write to the FMCSA by clicking “Comment” at this link.
The current state of roadside safety is unacceptable, and our truck drivers, road workers and first responders deserve better. It will take all of us to make a difference, but together, we can move the needle, prevent needless traffic fatalities and create a safer future for everyone on our roads.
Ossa Fisher is president of Aurora Innovation, an autonomous trucking company seeking to make transportation safer and more efficient. She is a CDL holder and leads an operations team of experienced truck drivers who help prioritize safety in self-driving technology. Fisher lives in Dallas with her family.