San Antonio Injury Lawyer Blog

Driver fatigue is one of the most common problems on American roadways today. Trucking accidents are frequently the result of a driver exceeding the reasonable and regulated hours of service, causing the driver to become overly fatigued and not fully attentive to the safety of the public roadways. In the 1990’s studies were conducted and the trucking industry recognized that driver fatigue presents a serious and extreme danger to the public; yet, many trucking companies do not follow federal safety regulations regarding driver hours of service in the operation of their tractor-trailers. All too often when a driver becomes fatigued and sleepy they are pressed to continue on to make their delivery schedule before seeking rest. However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the commercial driver manual for every state recognize that when a driver is fatigue the only safe action is to stop driving and obtain the necessary rest before continuing to operate an 18 wheeler.

Despite the public safety dangers presented by fatigued drivers, many professional truck drivers falsify logs in order to make it appear as though they are not driving in excess of authorized hours of service. Many trucking companies recognize this problem and turn a blind eye, and impliedly permit drivers to exceed safety limits while recording fewer hours in their official documentation. Not only is falsification of log books a criminal offense, allowing fatigued drivers on the public roadways causes catastrophic accidents that leave families torn apart.

Because a thorough and in-depth investigation is required to trace driver activity and conduct that may not appear to violate the hour of service rules, an experienced trucking lawyer must be consulted. There are methods to trace gasoline purchase receipts, hotel receipts, credit card purchases and forms of documentation that can be utilized to show log book inaccuracies and falsifications. Technology exists that allows trucking companies to install digital recording video cameras in the cabs of the tractor-trailer rigs documenting the behavior of a driver. Knowing that documentary video evidence can exit if rules violations are attempted can have a detouring effective on unsafe driving behavior such as driving while fatigued. Unfortunately only a minority of the trucking companies operating on the public roadways utilize this safety technology.

Trucking collisions can be the most catastrophic of all motor vehicle accidents. A fully loaded 18-wheel tractor-trailer weighing upwards of 80,000 pounds becomes a force of destruction when not operated in a safe and reasonable manner. A professional truck driver is tested not only on the rules of the road that passenger car drivers know in order to obtain a driver’s license, but must also study and know the commercial driver’s manual for their state as well as be intimately familiar with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations pertaining to safe and reasonable operation of a tractor-trailer. Additionally, trucking companies and those that operate in tractor-trailer transportation are required to know and follow all federal regulations pertaining to their industry. Failing to properly oversee and train drivers, failing to properly monitor the hours of service in which a driver operates, and/or failing to provide proper maintenance of vehicles are common problems within the trucking industry and can lead to devastating injuries and death.

When a trucking collision occurs it is imperative to initiate an immediate investigation. Hiring a lawyer experienced in trucking litigation is paramount. An experienced law firm will have accident re-construction and trucking industry experts on call for immediate response to the scene of a serious wreck. Evidence must be gathered immediately, scene investigation and photographs are of the highest importance, and identification of any and all persons or companies involved are required before even beginning case evaluation. If time has passed following a tractor-trailer wreck, evidence may still be obtainable and developing a litigation discovery plan to obtain all potential documents arising from and leading up to the wreck must be properly sought out. An experienced and aggressive prosecution is the only method to obtain justice for the victims of negligent trucking companies and their drivers.