Truck Accident Lawyers in the News
After Lives are Lost, Records Often Go Missing
Clay Miller was recently featured in a
Dallas Morning News special report about Road Hazards. The article detailed how trucking companies sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to avoid admitting fault in fatal accidents. Mr. Miller offered insight as to how these trucking companies purge onboard computers, falsify records and destroy documents that federal law requires them to keep.
Court Issues Split Ruling on Drivers’ Hours of Service Rule
A federal court issued a split ruling Tuesday on the government’s rules governing truck driver hours of service, rejecting a petition by a group representing owner-operators but granting a separate request by a public safety advocate group.
American Trucking Associations said it will seek a stay from the court to keep current rules in place until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provides the court with explanations for two of the rules provisions, the group said following the ruling.
We hail this decision as a move back towards safer roads. This was the first substantive change in the hours of service rules since the 1930's. The change increased the amount of time truckers could drive, a move away from safety and towards more profits for the trucking industry. The industry had backed this increase and has opposed all attempts to increase the amount of rest and sleep truckers receive. This is the first step to REAL changes that will protect not only the motoring public, but the truck divers themselves.
Deadly Truck Accidents
Many truck accidents result in substantial property damage or personal injury, including broken bones, brain injury, brain injury or death.
Large trucks, including tractor trailers, with a gross weight more than 10,000 pounds account for a disproportionately large share of traffic deaths based on miles traveled. Fatalities from 18 wheelers or tractor trailer crashes have increased approximately 10 percent from 1995 through 1998, moving up from 4,918 deaths in 1995 to 5,374 deaths in 1998. The 5.374 deaths in 1998 represented thirteen percent of all traffic fatalities.
The fatal crash rate for semi-trucks is 2.6 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. This staggering statistic is more than 50 percent greater than the rate for all vehicles on the roads. Tractor trailers and large trucks (including 18 wheelers) are also more likely to get into multiple vehicle accidents, nearly 80 percent of all large truck accidents involve more than one vehicle
"Since the late 1970s, approximately 12 to 13 percent of all traffic-related fatal crashes were the result of a crash involving a large truck."
Federal regulations allow drivers of large trucks to drive up to 16 hours a day. However, drivers under the regulations can compile 60 hours in less than five days by alternating ten hours of maximum permitted continuous driving with the minimum eight hours off duty. Surveys reveal that many drivers of 18 wheelers violate the regulations on hours of service.
Studies also show that driver fatigue plays a role in tractor trailer wrecks and that drivers are more likely to crash after many long hours of driving. (IIHS) The Department of Transportation has recently adopted a new version hours-of-service rules. However, consumer groups and highway safety advocates believe the trucking industry weakened the change to a degree that still will allow fatigued truckers on the road.
Trucking Accident Statistics
- An average of about 5,000 trucks are involved in a fatal traffic accident each year.
- Tractors pulling one semi trailer are the most common truck configuration, accounting for about 60% of all trucks involved in a fatal accident.
- Texas, California, and Florida had the greatest number of truck involvements over the period 1996 to 2000.
- The number of persons killed in accidents involving a truck decreased to 5,567 in 2000, compared with an average of 5,647 from 1997-1999.
- The number of truck drivers killed in traffic accidents increased from 658 in 1998 to 713 in 2000.
- About 360 pedestrians and 70 bicyclists are killed each year in traffic accidents involving trucks.
Frequently Asked Questions About Truck Accident Lawsuits
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What are the common causes of a truck accident?
How do I deal with trucking companies or their insurance carriers after a truck accident?
Is my case any different if I am injured, or a family member is killed, by a truck as opposed to any other vehicle driver?
Are trucking companies regulated by the Federal Government?
Does Federal law limit the hours that a trucker can operate his truck?
Are trucks required by Federal law to carry insurance?
Who can sue in a truck accident injury or death case?
Who can be sued in a truck accident case?
Is investigation important in a truck accident case?
Are expert witnesses necessary to prove fault in a truck accident case?
What damages can I, or the survivors of a loved one, recover in a truck accident injury or death case?
How soon must I bring an injury or death case based on a truck accident?
Do I need an attorney to litigate my truck accident case?
Contact A Truck Accident Attorney
If you or someone you know has been injured in a truck accident, you should contact a personal injury attorney immediately. Those who have questions or who may have been injured in an 18 Wheeler-related collision should contact the attorneys at Miller, Curtis and Weisbrod for further information or click here for a free case assessment