Georgia Truck Accident Attorney Blog

As a lawyer handling catastrophic trucking accidents, I have repeatedly seen the deadly effects of driver fatigue as truckers are pushed beyond their physical limits by trucking companies and shippers.

Now the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended that trucking companies and the government place increased emphasis on making sure truck drivers follow regulations governing proper rest. Additionally, officials at the NTSB recommended that the government should investigate the use of alarms and other devices to monitor drivers’ alertness. Experts estimate that fatigue is responsible for one in eight large-truck crashes.

The NTSB also called upon the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to step up enforcement of trucking companies, making sure their record-keeping is up to date and drivers are being given adequate time to rest.

Investigators also debated the use of technology designed to warn of impending collisions and automatically engage the brakes. They discussed concerns that automatic braking could interfere with the stability of large rigs, so the board recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study the technology and mandate its use if it proves effective.

Continue reading "NTSB urges stronger enforcement of truck driver rest period rules" »

Posted by Ken Shigley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Trucking industry , Trucking litigation , Trucking technology

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As a Georgia trucking safety trial lawyer based in Atlanta, I often see the tragic effects of fatigue among truck drivers who are pushed by trucking companies and shippers to perform beyond the normal limits of human capability.

On the other side of the Atlantic, SafeDrive Europe has released its Driver Fatigue Monitor, which is intended to cut the number of fatigue-related wrecks by alerting drivers to the first sign of drowsiness. The Driver Fatigue Monitor was developed by sleep expert Dr. Richard Grace alongside the Carnegie Mellon Institute in Pennsylvania and is already available in the US. According to a report in Logistics Manager, the device measures drowsiness by checking the per cent of eye closure through a real time camera and computer. If a driver appears to be reaching a dangerously fatigued state the monitor is designed to notify them through audible and visible indicators, giving them enough time to pull over safely.

It can be permanently installed into a vehicle or is available as a portable version, which plugs into the cigarette lighter.

Continue reading "Driver Fatigue Monitor seeks to cut fatigue-related crashes" »

Posted by Ken Shigley | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Trucking technology

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As a trucking accident trial lawyer in Georgia, frequently lecturing at trucking litigation seminars around the country, I try to keep up with the latest in trucking safety technology. One recent development is DriveCam, about which my friend Morgan Adams in Tennessee recently wrote on his blog.

DriveCam utilizes a camera mounted in a truck cab that will retain the last few seconds of video of both the driver and what is in front of the truck before and after an emergency event like hard braking, swerving, collision, etc. The information is transmitted automatically to DriveCam headquarters for analysis and then to the truck or bus company. Employers can review data, even when there is not an accident, to analyze what led to the emergency situation. DriveCam thus enables trucking company safety directors to recognize safe drivers and penalize dangerous drivers.

If DriveCam data exists, it can potentially prove or disprove the cause of a collision, eliminating a lot of the swearing contests we encounter now. Some truck drivers may feel that Big Brother is riding with them, but at the same time some may be saved from liability or prosecution by the DriveCam videos. Of course, knowing how many trucking companies destroy records that are not favorable to them, I suspect that the only DriveCam videos we ever get to see will be those that exonerate the driver. If the video shows the driver was falling asleep, I suspect we will either never learn that DriveCam was in the cab or will get a response that, golly, it just wasn’t working that day.

Continue reading "Trucking accidents may be documented by DriveCam -- if they save the video" »

Posted by Ken Shigley | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Trucking technology

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