KNOXVILLE — Jim Hall, a Tennessee native who chairs the National Transportation Safety Board, is scheduled to speak here Friday on preventing heavy truck crashes.
Hall’s talk is set for 10 a.m. in the Fourth Floor auditorium of the University of Tennessee Conference Center on Henley Street.
The program is part of the International Large Truck Safety Symposium co-sponsored by UT.
Hall, a UT-Knoxville law graduate from Chattanooga, was named NTSB chairman in June 1994. He also served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and on the staff of U.S. Sen. Al Gore Sr.
Hall spent five years directing Tennessee’s State Planning Office under Gov. Ned McWherter before being named chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Harlan Mathews in 1993.
The NTSB investigates about 2,500 aviation, rail, marine, highway, pipeline, and hazardous materials accidents annually.
Hall has lead investigations of several high-profile accidents, including the July airplane crash near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., that killed John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law.
UT Transportation Center Director Steve Richards said the conference brings together officials from industry, law enforcement, research, and government to discuss ways to improve the safety large truck transportation.
Driver fatigue, work zones, and new transportation technology in areas such as communications and braking are among the topics to be discussed, Richards said.