In my Atlanta-based trucking safety litigation practice, I often see the tragic outcomes of catastrophic trucking accidents. And because of that, when I travel on the highways I am alert to the minority of truckers who ignore the safety rules. Most of the time they get by with it, without…
Because driver fatigue is one of the most pervasive safety issues in interstate trucking, trucking safety regulations for many years have included rules on how many hours a driver may drive and be on duty. In almost every serious trucking accident, the accuracy of paper driver logs becomes an issue.…
As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, I often see that the trucking companies involved in bad crashes have had terrible safety evaluations for a long time. Twice in the past few weeks I found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety audits that the companies were cited…
It’s interesting how handling a truck wreck case in Georgia can draw one into the culture, politics and economics of Eastern Europe. But a case in which a Croatian trucker hit an Atlanta motorist on I-285 did just that. This week’s Time magazine includes an article for which I was…
As a trucking safety trial attorney in Atlanta, I try to keep an eye peeled for developments in Washington that could affect trucking safety on America’s highways. One proposal in Congress, backed by 150 large companies, would allow them to “super size” tractor trailers in interstate commerce from a maximum…
As a trucking accident trial attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia, I try to keep up with trucking safety issues at the national level. The latest development was a statement last week by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration director Ann Ferro at a U.S. Senate subcommittee. Some of the high points…
When I saw that three tractor trailers loaded with copper cable had been stolen from Southwire in Carrollton, Georgia, it reminded me of my days as a young prosecutor out in the country. See Steve Wilson’s report in the Times-Georgian for details. As a young Assistant District Attorney right out…
Most of my work as an Atlanta attorney involves serious injuries and deaths due to truck wrecks around Georgia and the Southeast — tractor trailers, big rigs, dump trucks, concrete mixer trucks, delivery trucks, mobile cranes, etc. But my first truck-related trial, many years ago, was when I was an…
As a trucking safety trial attorney in Georgia, I spend a lot of time with truck drivers, either representing them when they get badly hurt, suing them when they badly hurt someone else, or interviewing them as witnesses. Based on personal experience, I’ve thought about posting a review of truck…
I’m a trucking safety lawyer in Atlanta, not a futurist or a psychic. However, I’m going to go out on a limb and post my top five predictions for motor carrier safety in 2010. 1. Accident and fatality rates in interstate commercial trucking will continue to decline. 2. In addition…