Georgia Truck Accident Attorney Blog

Last night on I-575 in Cherokee County, an 18 wheeler tractor trailer hauling sod crashed at the bottom of an exit ramp from I-575 to Ga. 140 in Canton. The three-vehicle collision resulted in the death of one person, thus far not identified in the media. The tractor trailer crossed over the intersection and hit another vehicle, according a CBS News report.

According an article by Mike Morris in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, police were investigating whether brakes had failed on the tractor trailer.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations govern interstate trucking -- between different states. Section 393.40 of the FMCSR defines required brake systems. Section 393.43 sets requirements for breakaway and emergency braking. Section 393.47 covers brake actuators, slack adjusters, linings/pads and drums/rotors. Section 393.52 sets standards for brake performance.

If a truck is operated only intrastate (within Georgia), then it is subject to the Georgia Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The bulk of the federal rules on equipment required for safe operation, including these rules regarding brakes, are simply incorporated by reference in the Georgia rules.

Continue reading " Sod truck crash kills one in Canton, brake failure suspected " »

As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, I often see that the trucking companies involved in bad crashes have had terrible safety evaluations for a long time.

Twice in the past few weeks I found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety audits that the companies were cited and fined scores of times for the same rule violations that were involved in the crashes we are addressing.

Now folks in the insurance industry are expressing concern that increased safety monitoring under the FMCSA's Comprehensive Safety Analysis initiative will result in more warnings and citations about deficient safety practices, which we will in turn use to show the willfulness of unsafe practices.

In some instances, jurors may find that persistence in bad conduct sufficient to award punitive damages or attorney fees in addition to punitive damages. That may be a good thing for promoting safety on the highways, as trucking companies with unsatisfactory safety ratings will face pressure from their insurance companies. Those truckers who don't care much about safety may care about being able to keep the insurance that is required to operate, and about their paying higher insurance premiums. Thus, the economic impact will give a competitive advantage to safer companies and a competitive disadvantage to unsafe companies.

And trucking trial lawyers like me who know where to obtain those records and how to use them will contribute to a "virtuous cycle" whereby pursuit of our clients' interests also serves to promote safety for everyone on the highways.

Continue reading " Trucking safety reviews may be tough on insurers " »

It's interesting how handling a truck wreck case in Georgia can draw one into the culture, politics and economics of Eastern Europe. But a case in which a Croatian trucker hit an Atlanta motorist on I-285 did just that.

This week's Time magazine includes an article for which I was interviewed, Trucking in the U.S.A.: Where the Accent is Russian. The article focuses on the language, cultural and legal challenges created by an influx of Russian truck drivers into the US.

The reporter had read my blog post about taking a deposition in Kansas City of that Croatian truck driver -- through an interpreter -- who was taught to drive a tractor trailer by "some Russian guy in North Carolina. He said his study of the CDL manual and rules was accomplished by having his 10-year-old daughter translate it for him.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, at 49 CFR 391.11, requires that in order to get a Commercial Driver's License, an applicant must be able to "read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records."

Continue reading " Russian truckers on America's roads " »

As a trucking safety trial attorney in Atlanta, I try to keep an eye peeled for developments in Washington that could affect trucking safety on America's highways. One proposal in Congress, backed by 150 large companies, would allow them to "super size" tractor trailers in interstate commerce from a maximum weight of 80,000 pounds to 96,000 pounds.

In addition, those companies and a group of 19 Western governors are lobbying Congress to allow for more “doubles” and “triples” — multiple trailers hitched together than can span up to 120 feet — on Western highways.

Supporters of the proposals say shippers could load trucks more fully, reducing trucks used by 6%, saving 6.6 million gallons of fuel and eliminating 73,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

However, "super size" trucks would affect safety of other motorists by increasing the blind areas around tractor trailers as well as making them harder to stop. While trucks may have increased braking capacity, passenger cars and pickup trucks will not have any additional structural support added to withstand the impact from these monster trucks. Even if passenger cars were made to withstand these forces, it would be impossible to retrofit millions of cars currently on the road.

In addition to consumer safety organizations that uniformly think this is a bad idea, OIDA (Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association) has stated that the stability of a tractor trailer is "substantially reduced on bigger and heavier trucks." Rollovers are already the leading cause of truck driver deaths, this proposal would make one of the most deadly professions worse.

A truck inspector quoted in the Wall Street Journal called the idea "insane." He said he could actually feel the bridges bounce with trucks, and the heavier the trucks the more the bridge bounced. Do we really need the extra strain on the already crumbling bridges and roadways of America?

What do you think? How would this proposal to "super size" tractor trailers affect safety on the roads for the rest of us?

Continue reading " How would proposal to "super size" tractor trailer rigs affect safety for the rest of us? " »