Posted On:
September 26, 2009
Truck driver distraction is target of petition to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
A prominent highway safety organization, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to evaluate risks posed by drivers of commercial vehicles using electronic devices and to then issue regulations to limit such distractions.
Electronic distractions that cause concern include cell phones, text messaging, CB radios, email, on-board computers and navigation devices.
Recent studies have shown that driving while talking on a cell phone -- even hands free -- increases accident risk equivalent to driving with 0.08 blood alcohol, the threshold for DUI, and that texting while driving increases accident risk 23 times.
Ken Shigley is a trucking safety trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. A Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he has been listed as a "Super Lawyer" (Atlanta Magazine), among the "Legal Elite" (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale). He served as chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Litigation Institute, is a national board member of the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, and is on the National Advisory Board for the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. Mr. Shigley has extensive experience representing parties in trucking and bus accidents, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, spinal cord injury, brain injury and burn injury cases. Currently he is Treasurer of the 41,000 member State Bar of Georgia.This post is subject to our ethical disclaimer.
