General Knowledge · Accident Procedures
What federal recordkeeping requirement applies to a motor carrier after a qualifying accident?
1.The carrier must maintain an accident register recording the accident, including date, location, driver's name, and the number of injuries and fatalities, for 3 yearsCorrect answer
2.No federal recordkeeping requirement exists at all; recordkeeping after an accident is left entirely to state law and to the carrier's own internal policies on the matter
3.The register must be kept for only 1 year after the accident, after which the carrier may discard the entry and is not required to keep any summary of it on file anywhere
4.Only accidents that involved a fatality must be recorded in the register, since injury-only accidents fall outside the carrier's recordkeeping duty altogether under the rule
Explanation
A motor carrier must maintain an accident register for 3 years after each qualifying accident, recording the date, location, the driver's name, and the number of injuries and fatalities, under 49 CFR 390.15(b). The wrong options each misstate the requirement: there is a specific federal duty here, not just a state-law matter, the retention period is 3 years, not 1, and the register covers every accident meeting the 390.5 definition, not only fatal ones.
Source: 49 CFR 390.15(b)
Related Accident Procedures questions
- For federal reporting purposes, what makes an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle count as an "accident"?
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- What is the correct general approach to caring for an injured person at an accident scene, before trained help arrives?
- After protecting the scene of an accident, what should a driver do regarding notification?