Georgia Injury Law Blog
Commercial delivery trucks have been working overtime to fulfill the large volume of online orders and commercial business. More commercial trucks on the roads usually brings with them more risks of trucking accidents, especially as more drivers take to the roads in the upcoming holiday season. Georgia authorities recently took steps to ensure safe driving practices by commercial truckers to keep everyone on the roads safe.
The SafeDRIVE (Drive Distracted Reckless Impaired Visibility Enforcement) is an initiative by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and is carried out on a quarterly basis in collaboration with state and local law enforcement partners. In Georgia, the SafeDRIVE enforcement blitz was carried out between October 5 and 7 this year. As part of the Georgia initiative, the Motor Carrier Compliance Division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety conducted enforcement initiatives along popular trucking routes, including I- 75, I -95 and I- 85. More than 400 citations were issued to truck drivers across Georgia as part of a law enforcement initiative in collaboration with the federal administration in order to keep our highways safe and prevent truck accidents.
It was a three-day campaign, and hundreds of truck drivers and their commercial trucks were pulled over during the campaign. The campaign resulted in extensive monitoring of common truck driver errors, including following too closely, distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol. As part of the initiative, truck drivers were also cited for rash and aggressive driving and driving beyond the speed limits. These are common trucking driver mistakes that can increase the risk of the truck being involved in an accident that endangers not just the truck driver, but also occupants of passenger vehicles involved in the accident. In any accident involving a large commercial truck and a passenger vehicle, it is the occupants of the smaller vehicle who may be at a higher risk of suffering injuries, and therefore, it is important for law enforcement to conduct such regular enforcement campaigns to weed out bad drivers and keep the highways safer for all.
The enforcement exercise also focused on common errors like violations of hours of service laws. Very often, truckers find themselves under pressure to violate their legally-mandated hours of service and drive for longer hours than they are allowed to, increasing their risk of drowsy or fatigued driving and exposing them to crash risks. The enforcement focused on license and medical certification violations as well as other documentation violations.
At the end of the initiative, more than 400 citations had been issued to commercial truck drivers, and 81 truck drivers and 58 commercial motor vehicles were ordered off Georgia roads for various traffic safety violations.
The Atlanta trucking accident attorneys at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent persons who have suffered injuries as a result of commercial truck accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in an accident involving an 18-wheeler, semi rig, tractor trailer or any other type of commercial truck, talk to an attorney at our firm and discuss whether you have legal grounds for a claim for compensation for losses. A truck accident claim can involve not just the driver of the truck, but also the trucking company, shipping company, truck maintenance and repair companies and a number of other parties. Talk to an attorney at our firm and understand all the parties that may be liable in your claim.