Posts Tagged ‘truck drivers’

Truck Driver Fatigue Results in Accidents

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

All of us have been on the road at some point in time with the big trucks. Sharing the road with semis is something that all of us accept if we spend any time at all on America’s highways. Trucks are still one of America’s main forms of transportation for commercial good and products. Without them, and the drivers that are willing to pass their days over the road, we would not have the variety of produce, meats, clothing and household goods that we enjoy today. The truth is that we are dependant on these rolling behemoths to bring us the goods and products that we use every day. What do who know though about who is driving these trucks and whether or not they are taking required safety precautions? What happens when one of the drivers pushes their body too far – past the point at which the body must rest?

The fact is that each year truck accidents kill over 5,000 people and injure another 150,000 on America’s highways. According to one report, one in every four multiple-vehicle accident involves a large truck. Large trucks are involved in vehicular accidents twice as often as passenger vehicles resulting in over 800 drivers of large trucks dying each year. Despite the stringent requirements for obtaining a commercial driver license, it appears as though truck drivers are still involved in a disproportionate number of accidents each year. Commercial truck drier’s are required to complete a rigorous hands on training school as well as pass background checks, drug test, driving tests and written tests before they can obtain a commercial driver license. So why are these highly trained and screened drivers still getting into accidents?

One of the leading causes of truck driver accident is fatigue. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is charged with overseeing large trucks on American roadways. The FMCSA tells us that in recent years, as many as 750 people were killed and another 20,000 injured as a direct result of driver fatigue. Long hours on the road can take its toll on a driver. Although the federal government has set strict regulations regarding the number of hours a driver can spend on the road, drivers continue to reach the point where fatigue takes over and they loose control for that split second-just long enough to cause an accident. In a passenger vehicle, if you start to lose control you can generally gain back the control rather easily if you react quickly enough. In a large truck, however, once you start to lose control getting it back may be impossible due to the sheer size and weight of the truck. As a result, thousands of Americans are injured or killed each year due to the negligence of a driver that was simply too tired to drive.

Whether the driver himself made the decision to keep on truckin’ or whether his employer was pushing him on, the bottom line is that if you were involved in an accident with one of these “kings of the road” and you believe that accident may have been caused by fatigue, then you may be entitled to compensation for any injuries that you suffered. Contact the California truck accident law firm of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit them online for more information at www.ledgerlaw.com.

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Why aren’t all commercial drivers banned from texting?

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

The vast majority of us would agree that texting while driving is a huge distraction and it creates an unnecessary danger to everyone on the nation’s roadways. At the present time, nineteen states, the District of Columbia and Guam have completely banned drivers from sending or receiving text messages while driving. Other states limit novice drivers from being allowed to text while driving. The United States Government has also chimed in on the dangers of texting while driving. On January 26, 2010 the United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a federal ban on texting for commercial truck drivers. The national ban is the result of a national summit convened last year on the issue of distracted driving. As a result of the ban, any commercial bus or truck driver caught texting while driving will face civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, according to personal injury attorney Emery Ledger with the California law firm of Ledger & Associates. While the DOT’s efforts are to be applauded, they may fall short of covering the most dangerous “drivers” of all. With most states moving toward banning, or at least restricting, the use of cell phones and specifically texting with a cell phone and the United States government banning truckers and commercial bus drivers from text messaging while driving, you may think that the bases are covered. But what about all the other commercial “drivers”? What about cruise ship captains? Charter boat captains? Train engineers? Subway conductors? Neither state governments nor the federal government has yet to address any of these “drivers”, yet they have the potential to cause the most harm, says personal injury attorney Emery Ledger. He should know – his firm Ledger & Associates is representing one of the seriously injured plaintiff’s in one of the worst train accidents in United States history. The 2008 Chatsworth train collision killed 25 people and seriously injured many more. Results of the National Transportation Safety Board inquiry revealed that the engineer that was responsible for heeding and obeying traffic lights was busy text messaging just seconds before the Metrolink train collided head-on with another train. Had the engineer not been distracted, he may have seen the red light that was on to warn them not to enter that stretch of track. Federal Aviation regulations do prohibit pilots from engaging in any activity not related to flying the plane while in the air, however many pilots don’t appear to heed the rule. Cruise ship and charter boat captains are not prohibited from texting while piloting their vessels, despite the fact that they frequently carry the lives of hundreds, sometimes thousand, of people in their hands. In 2008, Amtrak carried over 27 million passengers during the course of the year. The Metrolink train that collided that same year had 222 passengers aboard. Anyone that is responsible for the lives of that many people should not be allowed, under the law, to engage in any activity that will distract them from driving. “The Metrolink accident never should have happened” says Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates. While we are passing all these laws banning texting and driving, let’s make sure that we include everyone that may be operating a commercial boat, plane, train or anything else that carries passengers and maybe we can avoid another Metrolink disaster. If you would like to speak to Emery Ledger regarding this, or any other subject, please call 1-800-300-0001 or contact him online at www.ledgerlaw.com

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Car Crash Lawyer says, U.S. Bans Texting by Truck and Bus Drivers

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The United States government has now chimed in on the texting while driving issue by banning all truck drivers and bus drivers from texting while driving. This ban follows some fairly high profile transportation accidents over the last year. Last April, the driver of an eighteen wheeler slammed into a school bus, killing a student. The driver admitted that he had been texting right before the accident. Sadly, records also show that the conductor of the train in the worst train crash in United States history was sending and receiving text messages just seconds before the crash.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded Virginia Tech a contract to study the effects of texting while driving in an attempt to determine how dangerous it really was. The study took place over three years and included 203 trucks and over 3 million miles driven. The trucks were outfitted with cameras that were able to capture the faces of the drivers in the seconds leading up to a crash or a near miss. The study proved that texting while driving is an extremely dangerous behavior and leads to one of the worst types of driver distraction. The study showed that for the six second time span right before a crash, or near crash, that the drivers who were engaged in texting spent 4.6 of those seconds NOT looking at the roadway. That’s like allowing an eighteen wheeler to travel the length of a football field without his eyes on the road. While larger trucks account for only about 3% of the traffic on the road, they account for close to 12% of all fatal accidents each year. Driver distraction of any kind is a huge problem on America’s roadways, but someone driving a 40 ton vehicle that is not paying attention to the road is a catastrophe waiting to happen. At the present time, 19 states, the District of Columbia and Guam all ban texting while driving for all drivers. Thankfully, the nation’s truckers and bus drivers are now included in that ban regardless of what state they are driving in.

If you have been involved in an accident in the State of California and you believe that texting while driving was wholly or partially to blame for the accident, then you may be entitled to compensation for any injuries you suffered. Any type of distracted driving, including texting, can be the basis for a negligence claim. If the other driver was driving negligently, then they were at least partially responsible for the accident under the personal injury laws of the State of California. Seek the advice of an experienced California personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced California personal injury lawyer can evaluate the circumstances of your accident to determine what compensation you may be entitled to as a result of the accident. The attorneys at Ledger & Associates are knowledgeable regarding the California personal injury laws and can answer any questions you may have about your specific situation. Give them a call at 1-800-300-0001 or look them up online at www.ledgerlaw.com.

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Drowsy Driving Accidents

Monday, February 8th, 2010

If you have been driving for any length of time, it has probably happened to you – that moment when you realize you are drifting off while you are driving. Your eyes feel heavy and you find yourself snapping your head up. That is obviously the opportune time to take the next exit and let someone else drive or check into a motel. Unfortunately, not everyone makes that decision. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsiness or fatigue is the principal cause of up to 100,000 passenger vehicle crashes every year, killing at least 1,500 people and injuring 71,000. Many more fatigue-related crashes go unreported as people are hesitant to admit that they were falling asleep at the wheel. You may think that we can blame the majority of those crashes on the semi-truck drivers. Not true. Less than 1 percent of all sleep-related crashes involve truck drivers, who are prohibited, by federal regulation, from driving more than 10 hours in a 24-hour period.

A recent NHTSA study showed that twenty percent of crashes and another twelve percent of near-crashes are the result of drowsy drivers. In the study, 100 vehicles were outfitted with cameras that recorded driver action and reaction. These vehicles were then followed for one year and almost 2 million miles of driving. You may be surprised to find out that the majority of accidents caused by drowsy driving actually happened during the day. Also interesting was that while all other age groups were equally represented in the incidents of drowsy driving, the 18-20 age group was five times more likely to have a fatigue related accident. We can only guess that their inexperience behind the wheel and erratic sleep patterns are factors.

People become drowsy behind the wheel for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they have been working two jobs and just can’t get enough sleep. Maybe they worked all day and are now trying to “drive straight through” to their vacation destination. Often times, cold medication can make someone drowsy without them being aware until it’s too late. So what can you do if you have been the victim in an accident with someone who has been driving while drowsy or fallen asleep at the wheel?

The most important thing you can do is contact an experience California car accident attorney. If you have suffered damages as a result of someone else’s negligence, then you may be due compensation for your injuries. Only an experienced California accident attorney can discuss your case with you and advise you whether you have a valid personal injury claim. That same attorney can explain to you the many steps involved in the legal process as well as answer any questions you may have regarding your personal situation. A car accident can be a terrifying experience and it is normal to feel confused and frustrated after you have been involved in one, but you aren’t alone.

If you have suffered injuries as a result of a car accident and would like an experienced attorney to evaluate your case, contact the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit us at www.ledgerlaw.com.

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New Braking Rules for Large Trucks

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

One of the first things most of us were taught by our parents when we started driving was to always watch out for the big trucks.  They are called the kings of the road for a reason.  A large truck is like a freight train barreling down the highway and you don’t want to be caught in its path if it needs to stop suddenly and is unable to.  Recent rule changes, though, will help with that particular problem.

Last year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced tough new braking rules for large trucks.  These new rules are expected to save over 200 lives annually and will prevent hundreds of serious injuries.  The new rule will require that a tractor-trailer traveling at 60 m.p.h.. be able to come to a complete stop in 250 feet.  The previous standard allowed them up to 355 feet.  The new rule improves stopping distance by 30 percent. Just to put that in perspective, according to estimates from the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving Course for Professional Truck Drivers, a loaded tractor-trailer, in reality, requires 525’ of stopping distance when traveling at 65 m.p.h. under the current standards. This estimate includes the distance traveled during reaction time.  As a comparison, a passenger vehicle traveling at 65 m.p.h. can stop – including reaction time – in 316’. Even under the best of circumstances, it takes the truck almost twice as long to stop as it does the passenger car.  As you may imagine, this makes the truck considerably more dangerous and more prone to be involved in an accident. The new rule is a welcome bit of news for American drivers traveling the highways.

While large trucks (trucks with a gross weight of over 10,000 pounds) account for only about 3% of the vehicles on the road in a given day, they are involved in a disproportionate percentage of accidents.  Recent statistics report that they are involved in about 8% of all accidents.  In 2008, an alarming 4,066 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes.   Large trucks were also involved in 128,725 non-fatal crashes in that same year. The previous year, one of nine traffic fatalities resulted from a collision with a large truck.  The majority of these fatalities (75%) are occupants of the other vehicle involved in the accident – not the driver of the truck itself. It is not hard to imagine who will suffer the bulk of the injuries when a large truck, that can be up to 40 times heavier than a passenger vehicle, collides with a family vehicle.  While we cannot do anything to level the playing field between large truck and family car, we can require large trucks to be driven as safely as possible. With the advent of improved brake technology, we can give the truck drivers the ability to greatly improve their stopping distance. The new brake rule is an excellent example of the steps that are being taken to reduce the risk to the nation’s drivers and occupants.

If you have been involved in a truck accident and would like further information, contact the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit us at www.ledgerlaw.com.

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The Fatal 11th Hour: Truckers Drifting Off to Sleep After Driving for 10 Full Hours

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Anyone who has driven long distances in an automobile knows the risks of falling asleep at the wheel. It is relatively easy to do, since the brain will operate in denial when put in the seemingly stressful situation of having to focus and keep a moving vehicle on the road – especially when the overwhelming urge is to go to sleep.

Truckers who work ten consecutive hours on the road are more susceptible to falling asleep in the eleventh hour. For the average driver, eleven consecutive hours on the roads are a hazard. But these hours of service (HOS) rules meant to regulate truck drivers, actually highlights the reason for many accidents as the direct result of driver fatigue. This fatal fact has been the source of many controversial stabs at regulation promising to ameliorate the situation. Unfortunately, there are no firm answers in sight.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) agrees that before 2004, crashes related to driver fatigue increased after just 8 straight hours of driving. The risks continued to increase from 8 to 10 hours of consecutive driving by the truckers. By allowing an 11th hour of driving, and letting drivers return to duty after just 34 hours mandatory rest, the truck drivers are allowed to put in more hours in driving – as opposed to resting. These small “cheats” at the system build up a cumulative fatigue factor with the truck drivers, and bring them dangerously close to total fatigue and shut down on the road.

The American Trucking Association (ATA) rebuts the claims that forcing drivers to rest longer than 34 hours, and prohibiting them from driving to the 11th hour may not serve to improve the health of the truck driver. But the ATA is not alone in rebuking the findings of the FMCSA. Other studies performed by the OSHA and the National Academy of Sciences have reviewed information regarding driver health, and have determined that other medical conditions and accumulated adverse health risks associated with truck driving, not just sleep deprivation, do affect the driver.

While the FMCSA bickers over accumulated driver fatigue issues of either 8-10 or 11th hour logs related to accumulated trucker driving time causes fatal instances of fatigue, our roads are significantly less safe for everyone interested in getting from here to there. This is because when a driver succumbs to sleep deprivation, falls asleep at the wheel and has a multiple car accident or any accident resulting in fatalities, there will be no distinction between who is injured, who is killed and who does not recover from the accident. This is not an issue that should be left to fate. Real regulation is needed, and real limits need to be set now. We are all living in the 11th hour with any trucker who has been driving behind the wheel on a shift that has gone on too long; if you have been injured by one Call 800-300-0001 for immediate legal advice.

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Deadly MetroLink Train Accident Victims Retain Ledger & Associates

Friday, January 15th, 2010

The world became acutely aware of the dangers of text messaging and driving when a Metrolink commuter train crashed into a Union Pacific freight train on Friday, September 12, 2008. That collision resulted in 25 deaths in Chatsworth, California. The apparent cause of the accident was that the Metrolink train ran through a red signal. However, investigators discovered the real cause of the accident was due to the engineer’s text messaging as he drove the train. In addition to the 25 deaths, multitudes more remained in the hospital after the accident. Metrolink faces a potential $200+ million dollar lawsuit for the negligence on the part of the conductor.

Although Metrolink’s policy forbids text messaging on the job, the engineer violated those rules when he communicated with an aspiring engineer while operating the train. The investigation revealed that the last text message was sent 22 seconds before the crash. A psychology professor from the University of Utah is quoted as attributing the cause of the accident to “inattention blindness” which prevented the engineer from seeing the red signal indicating a train was on its way from the opposite direction.

This accident effected a change in California legislation. Afterwards, the California Public Utilities Commission approved unanimously a law to temporarily ban the usage of cellular communication devices by train crew members. Then, the following week, texting while driving a car was banned in California as of January 1, 2009.

It is indeed sad that 25 people had to die in this horrific tragedy before legislation was enacted and further studies were conducted. In Pennsylvania in October of 2007, state lawmakers tried to curb distractions resulting when drivers texted. Both the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Pittsburgh Channel published articles on the subject as far back as June of 2006. However, this accident and other car accidents spawned a major study conducted in July of 2009 by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that discovered just how dangerous driving and texting can be.

Its major finding was that out of talking, dialing or reaching for the phone, text messaging results in the greatest accident risk. Alarmingly, teenage drivers’ chances of getting into a car accident while text messaging are four times greater than adults. A driver reaching for a cell phone or text messaging device is 1.4 times more likely to crash than someone who is concentrating 100% on the road before him or her.

Text messaging also poses a dangerous occupational hazard for truck drivers. In that same study, it was discovered that truck drivers who text while driving are 23.2 times as likely to get into an accident than those whose eyes are glued to the road. One who is reaching for a text message device is 6.7 times more vulnerable to a crash. Finally, that study provided an interesting statistic. For every six seconds of time driving, 4.6 of those seconds is consumed when a driver sends or receives a text message. This proves how dangerous text messaging can be.

We touched upon the subject of teen driving and text messaging. Let us examine it further. Everyone knows how reckless teenagers can be. When it comes to cell phone driving restrictions, this is no exception. Despite the dangers, more than a half of teenage drivers ignore them. In 2007, driver distraction such as text messaging, accounted for approximately 1,000 crashes. More than 60 percent of American teens admit to taking chances behind the wheel, and half of them admit to text messaging while driving.

And here is the kicker statistic: Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 text message while behind the wheel. Moreover, 33 percent of all drivers under 24 text while driving.

Not only teenagers are susceptible to text messaging abuses. One-fifth of adult dtivers send text messages on the road. A 2007 survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company even found that 19 percent of motorists admit to text messaging while driving.

It can be seen that text messaging while driving is a far-reaching epidemic. Although progress has been made in terms of legislation, drivers should be educated as to how dangerous it can be.

If you have been injured as a result of an accident wherein the other party was talking on a mobile phone or sending a text message call Attorney Emery Brett Ledger @ 800-300-0001. The Law Offices of Ledger & Associates has extensive experience dealing with accidents of this nature.

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