Post-Crash and Breakdown Procedures
What this domain tests
The exam tests immediate actions after a crash or breakdown with passengers aboard: scene safety, injury care, evacuation judgment, notification, and reporting. It favors protecting passengers from traffic and fire first.
Core rules
- Stop and remain at the scene. Set the parking brake, turn on hazard lights, and warn traffic if it is safe to do so.
- Assess injuries, call 911, and give first aid. Do not move a seriously injured person unless there is fire, hazmat, or traffic danger.
- Evacuate if there is fire, fuel spill, hazmat, or a safer position away from traffic. Move passengers upwind and away from the vehicle, count them, and keep them together.
- Exchange required information and notify the carrier and police. A CDL driver involved in a qualifying crash must make himself or herself available for post-crash alcohol and drug testing.
- Breakdown: pull as far off the road as possible, set the brake, use hazards and warning devices, and keep passengers inside if that is safer than standing on the shoulder.
Worked example
A rear tire blows out and the bus stops on the shoulder. Reasoning: the bus is partly exposed to traffic, so the driver sets the brake, turns on hazards, places warning devices behind the bus, keeps passengers seated and belted, and calls dispatch and emergency services. Evacuation would put people in the traffic lane.
Traps
Leaving the scene; moving an injured passenger unnecessarily; standing behind the bus; forgetting warning devices; failing to report the crash; not making yourself available for testing.