Motor carrier accident investigation in Canada

Scope

Motor carriers must investigate all workplace accidents, including motor vehicle incidents, whether on or off public property.

Regulatory citations

• Motor Vehicle Transport Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 29 (3rd Supp.))
• Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/86-304)
• Investigations of Motor Vehicle Accidents on Public Roads - IPG-066

Key definitions

• Accident: An unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.
• Commercial vehicle: Trucks, tractors, or trailers, or any combination of them, that have a registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 4,500 kilograms; or buses with a seating capacity of more than 10 persons, including the driver.
• Investigation: The action of investigating something or someone; formal or systematic examination or research.

Summary of requirements

Because of the dangerous and highly regulated nature of the motor carrier industry, one of a carrier’s highest concerns is the safety of its employees and the general public through the prevention of accidents. However, regardless of how good a carrier’s safety and accident prevention programs are, as long as there are cars, trucks, and buses on the nation’s highways, accidents involving all three can and do happen.

When an accident does happen, it is in the motor carrier’s best interest (from a liability and best-practice standpoint) to discover exactly what happened and why. This process of discovery is more commonly known as an accident investigation. Each motor carrier needs to have an effective accident investigation process as part of its comprehensive safety program, even if that process involves hiring a professional accident investigator.

A thorough accident investigation will:

• Determine how potentially severe the accident is (or will be);
• Gather the relevant facts and circumstances surrounding the accident;
• Identify the root cause or causes of the accident;
• Develop recommendations to address/eliminate the root cause or causes; and
• Implement the corrective action recommendations to prevent reoccurrence.

Most commercial motor vehicle accidents result from a breakdown in the motor carrier’s safety management controls, which are the company's internal processes and procedures used to ensure compliance and safety. For example, a breakdown in those controls could result in the use of an unqualified or untrained driver or unsafe equipment. A good accident investigation process identifies and analyzes these breakdowns, then recommends corrective actions to prevent similar types of accidents from reoccurring.