Project Goal

This project will conduct a revision to the "Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles" study completed in 2013. The study will renew the data and analysis methodologies utilized in the study to develop current information regarding the adequacy of financial responsibility requirements.
 

Background

FMCSA is required to submit quadrennial reports to Congress regarding the appropriateness of financial responsibility requirements. In support of these reports, FMCSA must rely on settlement data, insurance provider data, and external study data. One of these studies is the "Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles," however, this study was published in 2013 and utilizes data which needs to be updated to reflect the current economy and landscape.
 

Summary

This study will conduct an analysis of available data to determine the adequacy of the current levels of financial responsibility for property, HM, and passenger carriers. Specifically, this study will answer the following research questions:

1. What data is available to analyze the adequacy of current financial responsibility requirements?
2. What are the current costs associated with severe and critical injury crashes?
3. How have insurance premiums changed in real terms since the current levels of financial responsibility were set in the 1980s?
4. What percentage of crash settlements/judgments exceed the current minimum financial responsibility limits broken down by carriage type (property, passenger, hazmat)?  For those crashes that exceed the limits, by how much (on average) do they exceed the limits?  What does the distribution of crashes above the limits look like?
5. What are the inflation adjusted levels of financial responsibility based on the core CPI and medical CPI?
6. What level of coverage do carriers (property, HM, and passenger) voluntarily hold above the required level?
7. Do insurance rates and minimum financial responsibility requirements affect carrier (property, HM, and passenger) behavior?
8. What impediments exist to getting information on crash settlements?
    

Contractor

USDOT Volpe Center