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October 25, 2000 10:50 AM, EDT

Public access to crash data generated by voice or video recorders on trucks will be restricted if President Clinton signs the National Transportation Safety Board reauthorization bill.

The bill applies to maritime vessels, railroads and all motor vehicles. It accords those vehicle owners and operators the same protections from liability that airlines have now. But it does not provide protections from disclosure of information collected on the type of event-data recorders that are more commonly used on heavy trucks.

NTSB requested the onboard recorder language because of industry resistance to the board’s recommendation that recorders be required on commercial motor vehicles. The board is considering whether to make a similar recommendation for all motor vehicles.

The trucking industry has long voiced complaints that information collected from accident-data recorders would be used against it in lawsuits. The NTSB measure, although it covers different devices, attempts to address those complaints.

For the full story, see the Oct. 23 print edition of Transport Topics. .