Similarly, problem truckers caused 13% of the traffic fatalities in 1997, which was up from 9% in 1996. But the National Office of Motor Carrier Safety did not actually keep timely or accurate statistics on problem truckers. How then did one know that this was a policy problem? Here, as m many cases, comparative data from similar jurisdictions can be useful in establishing a norm. The Virginia State Police keep records that reveal that 22% of the trucks inspected have defects so serious that they must be taken off the road. Based on such numbers, Congress called for an investigation of the National Office of Motor Carrier Safety by the US Department of Transportation inspector general and the General Accounting Office (Reid 1998)