Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers warn truck crashes kill
The destruction and trauma caused by a crash with a large truck is devastating. Often, innocent people are killed, and lives are ruined. However, many of these crashes are caused by controllable factors such as lack of proper driver training, driver fatigue, driver distraction, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or driving overloaded trucks.
Last week, a tractor-trailer driver fell asleep at the wheel, causing a multi-vehicle accident on Route 222 in Berks County that killed two people and injured nine others. The Allentown Morning Call reported that the truck driver rammed into several vehicles stopped at a traffic light. Still asleep, the trucker, a 50-year old Reading man, veered into oncoming traffic and collided with more vehicles.
The Berks County DA said in a press conference that the driver was charged with nine counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, […]
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Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer warns trucking companies that encourage fatigued driving put lives in jeopardy
A recent report by ABC’s 20 20, focused on the dangers of forcing truck drivers to drive sleep deprived. ABC reported that big rigs are involved in 868 crashes every day in in the U.S. When truck drivers are overworked and sleep-deprived, the risk to themselves and the public can be deadly.
That National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that in 2012, there were more than 330,000 large truck crashes resulting in 3921 deaths and 104,000 injuries. State troopers interviewed by ABC news said that truck crashes are catastrophic.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), more deaths in large truck accidents are passenger vehicle occupants, because trucks often weigh 20-30 times as much as passenger cars. Truck braking capability is also a factor in truck crashes, as a loaded tractor-trailer takes 20-40 percent farther than cars to stop. […]
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Tagged Drowsy Driving
Safety group files suit for tougher trucker training laws
Several groups, including the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed suit against the DOT and the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), seeking stiffer rules for training entry-level truck drivers.
Bloomberg reported that regulators have missed deadlines set by two laws passed by Congress since 1991. According to the article, the FMSCA issued a rule in 2004 that only requires 10 hours of classroom work on such topics as driver wellness and hours of service. The watchdog groups say that rule is inadequate, because it doesn’t require any training for entry-level drivers on how to operate commercial vehicles, according to the complaint.
In 2012, Congress passed a second law (the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” also known as MAP-21) requiring the DOT to issue the entry-level training rule, […]
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Tagged Complaint
Fatal truck crashes becoming a common occurrence
There were 3,921 fatalities and 104,000 injuries from truck crashes in 2012, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s over ten fatal crashes and over 284 injuries a day. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that fatal truck crashes were up over 18% between 2009 and 2012, although the annual distance trucks travel on the highway is down 2.67% and the number of trucks is down 2.86%.
A recent story by NBC News talked about the surge in truck accidents and lack of public outcry. Fatal truck accidents are all too common, averaging nearly 11 times every single day in this country, killing nearly 4,000 people each year, and injuring more than 100,000, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The NBC report likened those numbers to a commuter jet crashing every single week of the year, […]
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Trucker Falsified Logbook in Fatal I-55 Chain Reaction Crash
A tractor-trailer driver that was involved in a chain-reaction crash that left four people dead and four others injured last month is being held on $1 million bail and was charged with falsifying a logbook and willful violation of a logbook. He was also cited for speeding.
According to Illinois State Police, the driver was not following posted construction site speed limit signs when he slammed into a car causing a chain reaction crash involving three vehicles and another tractor-trailer.
The truck crashed into the vehicles that were stopped in traffic in a construction zone at 2:17 p.m. the driver stated that he started work around 6-6:30 a.m., when he actually started work at about 2:30 a.m., meaning that he had been behind the wheel of his semi for almost 12 hours when the accident occurred. It was reported that witnesses at the scene said the truck failed to slow down for the stopped vehicles. […]
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