Georgia Truck Accident Attorney Blog

As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, I often litigate about trucking accidents. As a seminar speakers, I often talk about them at continuing legal education seminars around the country. On this blog, I frequently write about them.

But last Sunday, I saw one.

While helping my son move his car and his stuff home from California, I was taking a turn driving east of Albuquerque when we saw a column of black smoke just ahead. As traffic ground to a halt, we saw that about 200 yards ahead on the westbound lanes of I-40, one tractor trailer had rear-ended another, and was beginning to burn.

Another bystander said that her husband had broken out a window in the cab of the striking vehicle and pulled the unconscious driver out before his rig burst into flames.

As traffic was blocked in both directions, my son and I waited over an hour, watching as the truck was engulfed in flames and a huge column of black smoke rose into the clear New Mexico sky.

Numerous emergency vehicles responded. Eventually a helicopter landed in our eastbound lanes and evacuated the truck driver.

While we waited, I talked with the drivers of trucks stopped behind us. A bulk freight tanker filled with plastic pellets was stopped behind me at an angle blocking both lanes. One of the other truckers thanked him for blocking both lanes that way, so that others would not get closer to the fire before stopping. He responded that he had no choice. Due in part to handling characteristics with that load, he had a hard time stopping without hitting us, and wound up at an angle across both lanes.

The truck drivers waiting on the road talked some about the new CSA 2010 (Comprehensive Safety Analysis) program coming online soon at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A seasoned truck driver (about my age) was concerned that anyone who has been driving over the road for 30 years, with the diet and exercise difficulties that go with that, is bound to have medical conditions that require medication that would be reported under the new system.

They also talked a little about how they manage rest, diet and exercise. Or don't manage it, as the case may be. One mentioned the near monopoly in the truck stop business, and the lack of healthy food or exercise facilities at truck stops. If the giant players in the truck stop industry would put in healthy food and fitness facilities, it would help a lot in improving truck driver health and public safety.

Eventually the helicopter took off and we were able to drive away. As we passed the burned out tractor trailer, it was difficult to recognize the completely incinerated tractor. Traffic was backed up for many miles on the westbound lanes of I-40 and probably was not cleared for quite a while longer.

No, I don't know the causes of the crash -- fatigue, distraction, speed, following too closely, or even sudden stopping in the middle of an open interstate through the desert.

Fortunately, it was another tractor trailer that was hit. While the trailer of the lead vehicle was destroyed, there was no direct impact to the cab. If a small vehicle had been hit in that manner, and then involved in the truck fire, it is unlikely any occupants would have survived.

Continue reading "Witnessed fiery truck crash in New Mexico" »

The STAA (Surface Transportation Assistance Act), which also covers truck driver whistleblower cases, gives truck drivers a right to refuse to drive a commercial vehicle when it would violate the law to do so.

Examples include driver fatigue or illness, unwillingness to participate in an illegal activity, or a reasonable belief that a vehicle is unsafe because of worn tires, missing headlights, or low air pressure in brake system. STAA is supposed to protect drivers by preventing firing or other retaliatory action from truck companies. However, without effective legal representation those rights can be meaningless.

I don't handle STAA claims. I could probably fill up my caseload with them, based on the number of calls I get from truck drivers whose employers insist that they run illegally, but there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything.

If you are a truck driver whose employer gives you a choice between running illegal or losing your job, you might contact Truckers Justice Center , 900 West 128th Street, Suite 104, Burnsville, MN 55337, Telephone 952.224.9166, Fax 952.230.7875.

Continue reading "Justice for truck drivers who refuse to violate the law" »

No matter how often it happens, the useless tragedy is never less shocking.

About 4 AM last Friday on I-65 in Indiana, a family of five was killed when a tractor trailer rear-ended their vehicle which had slowed for traffic

Several years ago, something similar happened to a family in our neighborhood in Sandy Springs. The parents survived but their lovely teenage daughter, who had been a friend of my daughter since kindergarten, was killed instantly when a tractor trailer ran right over them as they slowed for congested traffic on I-20 in Alabama. After seeing so many incidents of this sort, I automatically hit the hazard flasher button whenever traffic slows ahead of me on the expressway.

The predawn hours are an all too common time for this sort of crash. Driver fatigue and efforts to keep driving despite sleepiness are often a factor.

Investigation of such incidents should include tracking down and examining all driver logs, trip receipts, Prepass records, weigh station records, bills of lading, etc., etc., to determine whether there were violations of hours of service rules in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. It should also include investigation of the driver's medical history, including any disqualifying medical conditions and use of prescription or non-prescription medications that may affect alertness.

Continue reading "Another family killed when rear-ended by a tractor trailer" »

Obesity is a big risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea, which is a huge risk for drowsy drivers causing crashes.

And long days of sedentary, solitary work, legally driving up to 11 hours in a 14 hour work day, with no easy access to either healthy food or a place to safely exercise, promotes obesity.

It is no wonder then that long haul truck drivers often suffer from both obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.

MSNBC reported this week that a Harvard sleep scientist, Dr. Stefanos N. Kales, has published an article in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, calling for mandatory sleep apnea screening of commercial truck drivers.

“Screenings of truck drivers will be ineffective unless they are federally mandated or required by employers,” said Kales, whose study included more than 450 commercial drivers working for more than 50 firms.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes a person’s airways to collapse during sleep, cutting off breathing dozens — or even hundreds — of times a night. Because sufferers wake over and over, they’re never fully rested and their bodies are chronically deprived of oxygen. That can cause health problems ranging from heart disease to diabetes and symptoms that include daytime sleepiness and a tendency to nod off during normal activities.

“It can be a microsleep for few seconds,” said Kales. “That can be enough to throw a truck off the road." The results can be devastating.

According to Kales, up to 20 percent of truck crashes are caused by drivers who fall asleep, and up to 28 percent of commercial drivers have sleep apnea. That works out to as many as 3.9 million of the roughly 14 million commercial drivers. The 28 percent rate among truckers compares poorly with about 4 percent of men aged 30 to 60 in the general population.

“A driver is impaired by fatigue long before he falls asleep,” said Jeff Burns, a lawyer representing the Truck Safety Coalition, a safety advocacy group.

Trucking industry groups routinely reject concerns about obesity and sleep apnea.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Medical Review Board has recommended mandatory sleep apnea screening for commercial truck drivers, but the FMCSA does not appear to have the issue on its agenda for action in the near future.

Continue reading "Obesity and sleep apnea a double threat for trucking safety" »

Not surprisingly, the "safety culture" of a trucking company is a huge factor in determining whether its drivers are involved in catastrophic truck crashes.

The Transportation Research Board published a couple of years ago "The Role of Safety Culture
in Preventing Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes."

Some key points from that study are:

• Culture and safety have a clear connection.
• Safety culture is best defined and indexed by an organization’s norms, attitudes, values, and
beliefs regarding safety.
• Effective top to bottom safety communication and interactions enhance safety culture.
• Terms such as “accident” and “mishap” are often replaced with the terms “crash,” “wreck,”
and other more appropriate, straightforward terms in many safe cultures.
• In many instances, organizations, organizational subgroups, and professions may each have
identifiable safety culture.
• Recognition and certain rewards systems for safe behavior are an effective component of safety culture.
• Driver experience enhances a safety culture, especially if that experience is with one carrier.
Driver retention problems, however, have the potential for degrading a safety culture.
• Many levels of communicating safety culture are necessary in “remote workforce” industries
such as truck and bus operations.
• Policies, procedures, employee safety responsibilities, and safety messages must be clear and simple.
Hiring practices, safety training and education, company orientation, and safety management
are all key components of a safety culture.
• Measuring safety performance of drivers and the organization as a whole are key components of a safety culture.

Actions that companies may take to improve their safety culture include the following:

• Develop or redevelop internal definitions of culture and safety.
• Conduct “Swiss cheese” analyses, to determine what omissions in the management system contributed to accidents.
• Identify and dispel myths, such as the tendency to always blame weather or outside factors.
• Conduct institutional safety knowledge development.
• Define or redefine employee safety roles from top to bottom
• Assess the effectiveness of safety communication and reengineer systems of safety communication.
• Create or enhance a system of safety record data collection and analysis.
• Develop or redevelop motivational tools, such as tying driver compensation and advancement to safety.
• Improve driver retention.

It's a long report. I commend it to any truckers and safety managers who are interested in improving safety.

And I will certainly refer to it in "looking under the hood" of the management system of companies whose trucks crash into my clients, causing serious injury or death.

Continue reading ""Safety culture" is important for prevention of catastrophic truck crashes" »

Truck driver fatigue is one of the most obvious causes of truck crashes. Obstructive sleep apnea is among the most common contributing factors. Obesity is a big risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea.

Now there is another study reconfirming the obvious: that obesity-driven testing strategies identify commercial truck drivers with a high likelihood of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and that mandating obstructive sleep apnea screenings could reduce the risk of truck crashes.

The study by Cambridge Health Alliance published in the March 2009 edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine concludes that:

- Truck drivers with sleep apnea have up to a 7-fold increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle crash.

- Drivers with sleep apnea frequently minimize or underreport symptoms such as snoring and daytime sleepiness.

- A majority of truck drivers did not follow through on physician recommendations for sleep studies and sleep apnea treatment.

- It is possible that many of the 14 million truck drivers on American road have undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea.

- "It is very likely that most of the drivers who did not comply with sleep studies or sleep apnea treatment sought medical certification from examiners who do not screen for sleep apnea and are driving with untreated or inadequately treated sleep apnea."

- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is currently deliberating recommendations to require sleep apnea screening for all obese drivers based on body mass index or "BMI."

Continue reading "Sleep apnea in truck drivers linked to obesity" »

Trucking companies are required to obtain a medical examination by licensed medical examiner of each truck driver. Here are the physical conditions that disqualify a truck driver from obtaining a CDL (commercial drivers license) and operating a commercial motor vehicle.

1. Loss of use of extremity. Loss of use of a foot, leg or arm, subject to a Skill Performance Evaluation of ability to safety control and operate a commercial motor vehicle even with a prosthetic limb.

2. Diabetes. Medical history of clinical diagnosis of diabetes currently requiring insulin. Diabetics whose condition is controlled with oral medication and diet may qualify.

3. Cardiovascular. Current clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary insufficiency, thrombosis, or any other cardiovascular disease of a variety known to be accompanied by syncope, dyspnea, collapse, or congestive cardiac failure. Coronary artery bypasses are not disqualifying, but implanted pacemakers are disqualifying.

4. Respiratory. Established medical history or clinical diagnosis of a respiratory dysfunction likely to interfere with the ability to control and drive a commercial motor vehicle safely. Examples of disqualifying respiratory conditions are emphysema, chronic asthma, carcinoma, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis and sleep apnea.

5. Hyptertension. Any detection of hypertension requires frequent rechecks. A blood pressure of 180 (systolic) and 110 (diastolic) or higher is considered Stage 3, at high risk for an acute event such as a stroke. The driver with Stage 3 hypertension may not be qualified, even temporarily, until reduced to equal to or less than 140/90 and treatment is well tolerated, and thereafter rechecked every six months.

6. Other physical limitations. Clinical diagnosis of rheumatic, arthritic, orthopedic or vascular disease which interferes with ability to control and operate a motor vehicle. This would include, for example, known to have acute episodes of transient muscle weakness, poor muscular coordination (ataxia), abnormal sensations (paresthesia), decreased muscle tone (hypotonia), visual disturbances and pain which may be suddenly incapacitating. Medical examiners must evaluate the severity and the likelihood of impairment affecting safe operation.

7. Epilepsy. Established medical history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or other condition known to cause loss of consciousness. Single episodes of non-epileptic seizure or loss of consciousness are evaluated regarding likelihood of recurrence, with a six month waiting period highly recommended. Drivers with a history of epilepsy/seizures off antiseizure medication and seizure-free for 10 years may be qualified to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. Interstate drivers with a history of a single unprovoked seizure may be qualified to drive a CMV in interstate commerce if seizure-free and off antiseizure medication for a 5-year period or more.

8. Psychiatric. Mental, nervous or functional disease or psychiatric disorder. This is often a subjective evaluation and easily overlooked by medical examiners.

9. Vision. Must have corrected vision of at least 20/40 in both eyes. One who is blind in one eye cannot qualify. My wife, who is functionally blind in one eye, would not qualify.

10. Hearing. Must be able to perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than five feet with or without the use of a hearing aid. If tested by use of an audiometric device, must have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid. I wonder whether my daughter, who is deaf but has an Auditory Brainstem Implant that enables her to hear environmental sounds and understand some speech would qualify.

11. Uses a Schedule I drug or other narcotic, with a narrow exception for prescribed medications.

12. Current diagnosis of alcoholism.

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken steps to tighten up on medical examinations and certifications, there is still likely to be a problem with drivers avoiding going to doctors and avoid reporting dangerous symptoms to medical examiners. I have taken depositions of truckers who fell asleep while driving, looked like medical textbook illustrations of likely candidates for obstructive sleep apnea, and who had great knowledge of sleep apnea, but who denied ever having consulted a physician regarding any sleep related ailment.

There is also a problem with drivers who do get treatment for their disqualifying conditions but neither comply with their doctors directions nor reported their conditions. In one case, I took the deposition of a truck driver's personal physician who testified that the driver had confirmed obstructive pulmonary obstructive disorder (COPD), required use of an oxyen tank 24/7, and was unfit to operate a large truck. However, the trucker had never told the medical examiner or his employer of this condition.

The next step in reforming the medical qualification process may be to adjust the incentives. Right now the incentive for truck drivers to to avoid seeking treatment for problems that could be disqualifying, and to conceal insofar as possible any medical problems they may have. How can the rules be modified to to encourage drivers who have problems to seek the medical care they need?

And how can truck stop chains be encouraged to provide better access to healthy food and exercise facilities in order to help truck drivers maintain healthier lifestyles?

Continue reading "What medical conditions disqualify a commercial truck driver?" »

The health of truck drivers operating 80,000 pound vehicles on the highways for long hours is a matter of great concern for safety of both the truckers and others on the road. The lifestyle of long-haul truckers is hardly conducive to maintaining good habits of diet and exercise. Obesity, sleep apnea, and related ailments are too common, and ultimately affect safety.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken two new steps toward improving the supervision of medical certifications of drivers.

First, effective 1/30/09, regulations require states to maintain records linking medical certifications, medical examiner certifications, and CDL (commercial drivers license) records. A copy of these documents must be maintained in the motor carrier's driver qualification file. There will be a three-year phase-in of the new rule until 1/30/12.

Second, the FMCSA has published for comment a proposed rule to establish a national registry of medical examiners, who would be required to complete training about truck driver physical qualification regulations. Only those doctors who complete and maintain their certifications would be allowed to certify the fitness of truck drivers.

These are steps in the right direction. Now I would like to see truck stop chains do their part by installing exercise facilities and offering healthier food options.

Continue reading "Medical certification rules for interstate truck drivers tightening" »

Truck driver fatigue as a cause of major tractor trailer accidents is an old story. As a trucking trial lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, I have seen it too many times.

In today's Baltimore Sun, there is an editorial, "Yawning Danger," urging the incoming Obama administration to overturn the hours of service rule that is set to become permanent on the last day of the Bush administration. The old rule limited truck drivers to 10 hours of driving in one day. The current temporary rule, which will become "permanent" on January 19th, allows driving 11 hours during 14 hours on duty.

The editorial points out:

Has the 11th hour made the roads more dangerous? Are 11th-hour drivers more likely to be involved in crashes? Some research suggests no, and that's the evidence sited by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration when it granted the rule change in November. But advocates say the government's analysis relies heavily on one study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that is deeply flawed (depending, for instance, on truckers being videotaped; the presence of a camera onboard likely affected their performance).

The bulk of 35 years of research, the petitioners point out, shows that the performance of long-haul truck drivers diminishes even before the 10-hour limit is reached. And while the number of highway fatalities was down the last two years, it went up the first year the new rules were in place. Recent safety improvements to roads and vehicles as well as lower average highway speeds may be masking the effect of the longer hours.

It seems like common sense that fatigue is progressive, and that one is more fatigued and more accident prone in the 11th hour of driving than in the 10th hour.

Continue reading "Yawning Danger - call to take truckers back to 10 hours driving per day" »

Handling a lot of truck and bus accident cases in my law practice in Georgia, I often see cases where there are truckers on both sides of the case, as one tractor trailer crashes into another tractor trailer. It drives home the fact that truck driving is a hazardous occupation.

This week's news included another of those incidents, this time on I-80 in Iowa. Saturday about 7:30 P.M., an unidentified truck driver was killed when he rearended another truck, and his tractor caught fire. The driver of the lead truck was injured.

Continue reading "Trucker killed in collision with another tractor trailer in Iowa" »

This week there have been two news bulletins about cement truck rollover which, fortunately, did not cause any serious injuries. It could be a lot worse.

I learned through one recent case that standard concrete industry truck driver training materials emphasize how handling characteristics of such vehicles differ from other trucks. With the high center of gravity and rotating load, concrete mixer trucks can easily roll over. Industry training materials illustrate how a mixer truck will roll over at 16 mph in making a ninety degree turn on a level surface.

In a recent case, a concrete mixer truck rolled over onto a vehicle, cracking the skull of a baby his in infant seat. The truck driver admitted he was going about 25 mph when he made the turn, that he had never been trained to know the speed at which a concrete mixer truck would roll over, and would never have taken a turn as fast as 16 mph if he had known. That case, which included a claim against the concrete company for negligent training and supervision, settled.

Continue reading "Two cement truck rollovers in news this week" »

While my perspective is that of a trial lawyer handling truck and bus accident injury cases in Atlanta, Georgia, it is necessary to keep up with developments nationally. Therefore, I am following how trucking safety issues are on the agenda for the new administration in Washington.

Last Monday, the transportation transition team met with representatives of major trucking industry interest groups including the American Trucking Association (ATA), the Truckload Carriers Association, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, National Private Truck Council, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), and the truck manufacturers.

According to a report by Jami Jones of Land Line Magazine, some of the issues on which conflicting opinions were presented included:

- Truck size. The American Truicking Association favors using longer and heavier trucks for "productivity improvements." The OOIDA and others counter that this would take a toll on the nation's highway and bridge infrastructure.

- Loading and unloading time. The OOIDA representative pointed out that many drivers spend 30 to 40 or more hours per week waiting at loading docks to get loaded or unloaded. Addressing the waiting time problems at loading docks would improve productivity, as well as enhancing safety by helping encourage compliance with hours of service and reducing driver fatigue.

- Speed limiters. The ATA argues for speed limiters on trucks for reasons of safety and energy conservation. The OOIDA contends that speed limiters would hurt the incomes of truck drivers who are paid by the mile, and would have negative safety effects by ability to change lanes and move with the flow of traffic.

- Pressure from brokers, shippers, receivers and motor carriers. The OOIDA representative pointed out the the FMCSA concentrates too much of its enforcement efforts on drivers, while ignore the relationship between highway safety and the coercive demands of freight brokers, shippers, receivers and motor carriers upon drivers. The OOIDA representative pointed out that pointed out that truckers are under immense pressure from motor carriers, shippers and receivers. And that pressure is far more pervasive than the threat of any inspection scheme by FMCSA. “Unless those economic issues are addressed, drivers who become disqualified from driving … for safety violations will simply be replaced by new drivers facing the same economic pressures,” he told the transition team.

That is consistent with horror stories about economic pressures to violate safety rules I have heard from numerous truck drivers over the years.

- Truck parking and idling. Hours of service regulations require truck drivers to take mandatory rest periods. However, there are often inadequate spaces available for trucks to park and local governments restrict truck parking. Representatives urged a national approach to availability of truck parking for rest.

- Other topics discussed included electronic on-board recorders, parking shortages, idling regulations, highway financing and driver training.

Continue reading "Obama transition team hears truck safety debate points" »

A trucker speeding on a rain-slick expressway caused the fiery chain reaction in a tunnel on I-5 just north of Los Angeles last year. The location on I-5 is near my son's college apartment, so I have been by it many times. However, the case also has a local angle in metro Atlanta.

According to a report from California Highway Patrol investigators, Jose Reyes, 29, was driving at least 65 mph in the rain when his truck veered left and crashed into a concrete median wall after driving through the tunnel. The posted speed limit for that stretch of road is 55 mph, according to a report by Jack Leonard of the Los Angeles Times.

The resulting chain-reaction behind him killed a 6-year-old boy and two adults, and injured 10 others.

The report concluded that Saia Motor Freight Line Inc. was responsible for maintenance of the truck, and that the right front brake of the truck was not in working condition.

Saia Motor Freight Line Inc. is based right here in Fulton County, Georgia, in an office park in the suburb of Johns Creek, Georgia. According to USDOT information, it has 4,339 drivers and 3,552 motor units. While it has a "satisfactory" safety rating, in the past two years it has had 9 fatal crashes and 96 crashes with injuries.

On the face of the LA Times article, there appear to be at least three violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. I would bet there are more.

Continue reading "Truck speeding on rain slick freeway with bad brakes caused fiery pileup in tunnel" »

Today's issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution includes an article by Steve Owings, who founded Road Safe America after his son was killed by a speeding tractor trailer on cruise control six years ago.

Having met Steve and learned of his motivation to make the roads safer for everyone, I'm just going to copy his article here in order to give his words wider distribution.

Big rig killed our son; drive safely on busiest traffic day

By Stephen C. Owings

For the Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

My rearview mirror has turned into a time machine. Every now and then, when I glance into it, I see my son Cullum backing out of our driveway, waving one last time as he pulls away. Then, the truth comes crashing home again: I’m still here, and he’s not.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving will be a hard day for us again this year. It marks the sixth anniversary of Cullum’s tragic, violent passing. He was a young man of 22 with great promise whose life was ended in its prime, without warning, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2002, the busiest highway traffic day of the year. Stopped in an interstate traffic jam while headed back to school in Virginia with his younger brother, Pierce, Cullum saw the lights of the speeding tractor trailer rig in his rearview mirrors. As he was trying to get the car over to the left median to get out of the way, the big rig speeding on cruise control crashed into the boys’ car with full force, crushing it like a toy. That night, we got the phone call every parent dreads and will remember with horror for the rest of our lives: Pierce, who miraculously had survived, told us through his tears from the ambulance that Cullum had been killed.

My wife, Susan, Pierce and I will never stop asking the question why Cullum? However, we believe we have found answers to the many questions about why and how that wreck and thousands more heavy truck-car crashes happen each year. In an effort to learn all we could and then to educate motorists and big rig drivers about the inherent dangers for everyone when heavy commercial trucks travel at high speeds, we founded the nonprofit Road Safe America in 2003.

This Sunday will be the fourth annual national observance of Drive Safer Sunday in America, a day for which we have had state, congressional and media support for a national campaign urging everyone to drive more safely on the busiest highway traffic day of the year.

Since founding Road Safe America, we have been joined by the American Trucking Associations, all national safety advocacy organizations, numerous trucking firms, business executives, insurance companies and thousands of citizens in seeking a national regulation requiring activation of electronic speed limiting governors on all trucks 13 tons and up built after 1992. All trucks built since 1992 already come with the speed governors installed, so it would be a simple thing to activate them. Oddly, the Bush administration has opposed this common sense, inexpensive regulation that would save many of the lives of approximately 4,000 motorists and 1,000 truckers killed each year in crashes involving big trucks. We have asked President-elect Barack Obama to be more compassionate, and we hope his administration will appoint a secretary of transportation who takes action.

If saving lives is not motivation enough to support this cause, in this era of dependency on foreign sources of oil, consider the fact that activation of speed governing technology is already done by many trucking firms as a way to cut fuel use as well as improve safety. With a reduction of only 5 mph, millions of gallons of fuel can be saved annually in the nation’s trucking fleet.

The European Union, Australia, Japan and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have regulations requiring speed-limiting devices set at 65 mph or slower on all large trucks. Sadly, instead of showing international leadership, the U.S. is behind the rest of the world in this area.

According to Australian government statistics, Australia experienced a reduction of 26.5 percent in heavy truck fatalities between 2002 and 2004 through speed governor requirements, aggressive fatigue management programs, random drug testing and seatbelt promotion within the trucking industry.

When an airliner goes down and 200 people perish, it is national news for weeks. But when twice that many are killed every month in crashes involving big trucks, where is the outcry?

No one at Road Safe America is anti-trucking or anti-trucker. In fact, the opposite is the case. In terms of annual deaths and injuries, trucking is the most dangerous profession in America, and we want to change that. We are trying to educate drivers of passenger autos and other vehicles about the need to operate more safely around large trucks because of the dangers present. Trucking is an absolutely vital industry to the economic health and prosperity of our nation. However, by limiting heavy commercial trucks’ speeds, we know that many more drivers will make it home to their families, and more motorists will live to see their loved ones again as well —- this Sunday and for many Sundays to come.

Stephen Owings is an Atlanta resident and the co-founder of Road Safe America.

A collision between a tractor trailer and a fire truck in Crisp County, Georgia, killed the Ohio trucker and sent a local volunteer fireman to a hospital last Saturday.

The Ohio trucker, 33-year-old Shane Alan Waters of New Madison, Ohio, was killed. Ironically, he was also a volunteer fireman back in Ohio.

The cause of the wreck was not immediately apparent in a report by Gabe Jordan in the Cordele Dispatch.

The fire truck was traveling from Arabi to Cordele for a training session. Since it apparently was not on an emergency call, the state law that requires yielding to an emergency vehicle using lights and sirens would not apply.

County governments in Georgia waive sovereign immunity to the extent of motor vehicle liability insurance. A local government may also indemnify employees for negligent torts committed in the line of duty.

Continue reading "Ohio trucker who was volunteer fireman killed in collision with Georgia fire truck" »

A tractor trailer driver going too fast to see his way through dense fog Monday morning in Fresno, California killed a young woman on her way to work.

According to a report by Jim Steinberg and Vanessa Colón of The Fresno Bee, a big-rig drive Martin Nelson, 22, of Fresno, failed to see stopped traffic in heavy fog. He struck a Ford Explorer, killing the woman inside.

At least two critically important provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations appear to have been violated here.

First, 49 C.F.R.§ 392.14 requires:

Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by . . . rain, dust, . . . adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated.

Two California court cases have held that a trial court must instruct a jury on the federal "extreme caution" standard of care rather than the regular negligence standard under state law. Crooks v. Sammons Trucking, Inc., 2001 WL 1654986 (Cal.App. 3 Dist.,2001); Weaver v. Chavez, 133 Cal.App.4th 1350, 35 Cal.Rptr.3d 514 (Cal.App. 2 Dist.,2005). See also, George v. Estate of Baker, 724 N.W.2d 1 (Minn.,2006).

Second, 49 C.F.R. § 392.1 requires:

Every motor carrier, its officers, agents, representatives, and employees responsible for the management, maintenance, operation, or driving of commercial motor vehicles, or the hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching of drivers, shall be instructed in and comply with the rules in this part.

This case involves a 22-year-old truck driver. My hunch, based on experience in trucking cases, is that his employer checked to see that he had a CDL (Commercial Driver's License, checked to see if he had any moving violatons in the past three years, and tossed him the keys. I seriously doubt that the employer made any efforts at all to assure that he understood and appreciated the need to slow down or pull over when hazardous driving conditions made operation of the tractor trailer unsafe.

As a result, an innocent motorist is dead and her family grieves.

The challenge facing an attorney handling such a case is often to educate judges who don't even know that they are ignorant of motor carrier safety law. That is a continuing challenge as it requires getting a busy judge to focus on a body of federal law with which he or she may have great familiarity. Too many lawyers and judges think a tractor trailer crash is "just a big car wreck" and fail to recognize the legal and technical issues that must be considered.

Continue reading "Big rig crash in morning fog kills woman" »

A Florida truck driver admitted that he was on his cell phone yesterday when he slammed into a school bus, killing a 13-year-old student. According to reports, the school bus, which had stopped to let children off , had its warning lights on and stop signs out. The truck failed to stop for it and rammed the school bus forward 294 feet.

See our recent posts on cell phone distractions and the absence of seat belts on busses.

Continue reading "Florida truck driver on cell phone hits school bus, kills child" »