Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

Computers in Cabs Increase Risk of Accidents, but Truckers Oppose Possible Ban

By now, everyone knows that texting while driving increases the risk of accidents, and must be avoided. The high-decibel debate on texting while driving however, seems to have left out one segment of highway users – drivers of commercial trucks.

Commercial trucks these days come with computers in the cab, which are used to streamline trucking operations. Companies use these devices to send companywide messages to truckers, relay new orders etc. There is no doubt that these computers have increased efficiency for these trucking companies, but they do expose the truckers to accident risks from distraction.

Senate confirmation hearings for President Obama’s nominee for head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, are going on.The choice of Anne Ferro to head the agency at a time when truck safety is topmost on all minds has become a prickly issue.

Much of the discontent over Ferro’s nomination is over her past as a trucking industry lobbyist in Maryland. Between 1997 and 2003, Ferro served as president and CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, and for the past six years, has been registered as a lobbyist for state legislators.

She had nothing to do with federal lobbying, but even so, as Atlanta truck accident lawyers, we are definitely concerned about her opinions on trucking safety. In 2008, the Bush Administration passed a regulation allowing an increase in the number of consecutive hours that a trucker could drive to 11 hours. As Georgia truck accident lawyers, we had strongly opposed any such increase in the number of hours truckers could drive at a stretch. Driving long hours contributes to driver fatigue, which is one of the major causes of truck accidents in Georgia. However, Ferro, in a letter to the Baltimore Sun, supported the rule, saying that it would prevent accidents and save lives. Having a former trucking industry lobbyist, who one safety group calls an "apologist for the trucking industry,” as the head of the FMCSA could raise questions about conflict of interest.

Truck Accidents in Crisp County, Savannah Leave Trail of Injuries

Two separate accidents in Savannah and Crisp County, both involving pickup trucks and 18 wheelers, have left one person dead and three critically injured.

• In the first accident, a 66-year-old woman suffered critical injuries when her Chevy turned in front of a big rig. According to troopers, Ora Lee Morris was not wearing a seatbelt, and was ejected from the truck on impact. She was trapped underneath the truck.There is no information about why Morris turned her pickup right in front of the big rig.

A shipper group has announced the results of a nationwide poll that shows that a majority of Americans are in favor of raising weight limits on trucks on our interstate highways. Considering that the poll was commissioned by an association of more than one hundred shippers and other allied trucking groups, truck accident attorneys and other opponents of any such increase, should probably not give too much credence to those findings.

The poll was commissioned by the Coalition for Transportation Productivity, and the results apparently show that more than 50 percent of Americans are in favor of allowing trucks to carry more weight on interstate highways, as envisioned in the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009. According to the CTP, most Americans are in favor of higher weight limits on trucks that have higher safeguards if it would help create safer roads and more efficient highway transportation.

The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009 or HR 1799, has been opposed by truck accident attorneys, safety advocates and families of victims killed in truck accidents. The bill would authorize states to allow trucks weighing up to 97,000 pounds to operate on interstate highways. Trucks would be required to add a sixth axle with brakes.

An accident involving an 18 wheeler and an ice-cream truck has left the driver of the truck seriously injured. Police have now arrested the 18 wheeler driver.

According to police, the 18 wheeler driver was traveling east on Camp Creek Parkway. He seems to have made a left turn at a green light that didn’t have a left turn arrow. The 18 wheeler was struck by an ice-cream truck, and also collided with another vehicle carrying four occupants. The driver of the ice-cream truck suffered serious injuries, and was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center. He is reportedly in serious condition. No other people were injured in this truck accident.

Drivers of commercial trucks must pay attention to traffic rules at all times. As the driver of a massive vehicle that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, a tractor trailer driver simply does not have the luxury of making errors in judgment or other mistakes while driving. Any errors made by a tractor trailer driver can prove deadly.

News coming in has confirmed a deadly truck accident this morning in Valdosta in Lowndes County. Apparently, four people have died in the accident that involved a car and a rental truck on I-75. The crash happened early this morning at about 2:30.

It’s a tragic start to the four-day long Georgia Highway Patrol crackdown that will last over the Fourth of July weekend. The crackdown begins at 6 pm today. Georgia Highway Patrol is expecting that there will be 22 fatalities in accidents over the weekend, which will end on July fifth. Law enforcement officers are gearing up for special anti drunk driving and speeding crackdowns to keep drunk drivers and dangerous speeders off the road. This will include special checkpoints around the state and additional patrolling.

The Fourth of July holiday sees the largest number of accident-related fatalities for a single day each year, and Georgia Highway Patrol, in spite of the crackdown, will be expecting no different this year. With the holiday traveling set to begin in full earnest on Thursday evening, Georgia car accident lawyers would encourage motorists to be careful out there.

A recent highway safety agenda unveiled by the American Trucking Associations has 18 points that are sure to make Georgia truck accident attorneys every happy indeed.

The trucking group outlined the points on the agenda at a news conference at Capitol Hill.The program includes a set of comprehensive measures, including steps aimed at enhancing the performance of drivers, safer trucks and safer vehicles to prevent truck accidents.

The agenda includes:

A motorist from Winder in Barrow County has died in a multi vehicle truck accident that involved at least three commercial trucks. Four other people were injured in the accident that took place on the 5^th  of June.

As Robert McIlwain began to slow down for traffic on I-85, his Honda CRV was struck by a tractor trailer. According to state patrol, the driver of the tractor trailer, Thomas Terry failed to notice that traffic was slowing down, and struck the guard rail before crashing into the CRV. The Honda CRV was pushed into the path of a second tractor trailer, and then overturned. McIlwain died from his injuries.

Terry then struck a 2004 Dodge Dakota before it overturned into a median. The Dakota was pushed into a third tractor trailer that had stopped for traffic. In all, four people were injured in the accident, including Terry.

A new piece of legislation gives Georgia truck accident lawyers and families of victims who have died in accidents caused by drunk or pharmaceutically impaired truck drivers, plenty of cause for cheer. The legislation would set up a national database of commercial vehicle drivers’ alcohol and drug test results.

The legislation called The Safe Roads Act, has been introduced by Senators Mark Prior, D-Arkansas, Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska and Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi. It will authorize $5 million every year to develop the database, and mandate trucking companies and medical review officers to report positive drug and alcohol test results to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Employers will be required to check the database, and make sure that the driver they plan to hire, does not have a history of substance use.

Drug and alcohol testing is mandatory for commercial trucking companies. A company is required under law to conduct a drug test before a driver begins duty. In spite of this, far too many truck drivers continue to drive tractor trailers and buses after testing positive for drug and alcohol use. The system has too many loopholes to prevent such drivers from slipping through the cracks. For instance, a company could fail to verify the employee’s drug history. Applicants may not report their testing history accurately to new employers.

Interstate 85 in Coweta County has been an accident magnet for the past several weeks because of the construction work going on there in both northbound and southbound lanes. Several truck accidents have been reported. The construction work has meant that traffic rules are being broken at random.  Truck drivers and motorists, highway authorities complain, are not sticking to the reduced speed limits now posted in the zone. It’s not just traffic police and highway officials who are concerned about the several accidents that have taken place, but also construction workers hard at work on the road.

In an example of what highway authorities are so concerned about, a tractor trailer and a tanker truck collided at the construction zone , resulting in an explosion and fire at the scene. The wheels of the tractor trailer apparently slid off the edge of the payment, and the driver, in a panic, overcorrected, colliding with a tanker nearby. The tanker truck was pushed into a construction barrier wall that had been erected to protect workers. The collision damaged the fuel tank of the tanker truck, and it caught fire. Both the tractor trailer and tanker truck drivers suffered injuries. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. A nearby school was partially evacuated as a precautionary measure, although no students were injured. The initial panic when the tanker truck exploded led to rumors that smaller vehicles had been caught in the collision, but that wasn’t true. All lanes on I-85 were closed for several hours after the accident.

Transportation officials are appealing to motorists to take great care while driving through the construction zone. The construction work is expected to continue for the rest of the year, and conditions on the highway will continue to be dangerous. Officials are asking motorists to use other routes to get to their destination if possible. In spite of lower speed limits, there have been too many instances of speeding drivers causing accidents in the area. Reckless motorists continue to drive at excessive speeds, and there are too few law enforcement officers at the scene to crack down on speeding motorists. The conditions on the road are  even worse when it rains.