A few days ago, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a final rule adopting the provisions of its 2007 interim final rule, increasing the maximum driving time from 10 to 11 hours per day, out of 14 hours on duty. According to a report by Jill Dunn on e-Trucker.com,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
In my trucking litigation law practice, I all too often see fatal truck accidents that happen in bad weather Despite a federal safety regulation requiring “extreme caution” in hazardous weather, and instructions in the Commercial Drivers License Manual to slow down by at least one-third, truckers under economic pressure from…
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…
Over the road truck driving is a tough job that a lot of folks find less desirable than construction jobs and other work that allows them to be home every night. A couple of years ago, when the economy was better, I wrote about the shortage of truck drivers that…
Here’s a roundup of recent news stories about truck accident jury verdicts around the United States: – $87 million in Dallas, Texas, for a man paralyzed in a wreck in a U-Haul truck had faulty emergency break and worn down gears. – $36.3 million ($23.1 million compensatory damages, $13.5 million…
As a “seasoned” Georgia trial lawyer, I’ve seen considerable evolution of thinking about safety issues. When I was a young Assistant District Attorney, we occasionally prosecuted DUI cases but still treated them lightly, still laughing at bad jokes about drunks. Then our consciousness was raised by news stories about carnage…