Truck driver safety

Published on: December 28, 2008

Yawning Danger – call to take truckers back to 10 hours driving per day

Truck driver fatigue as a cause of major tractor trailer accidents is an old story. As a trucking trial lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, I have seen it too many times.

In today’s Baltimore Sun, there is an editorial, “Yawning Danger,” urging the incoming Obama administration to overturn the hours of service rule that is set to become permanent on the last day of the Bush administration. The old rule limited truck drivers to 10 hours of driving in one day. The current temporary rule, which will become “permanent” on January 19th, allows driving 11 hours during 14 hours on duty.

The editorial points out:

Has the 11th hour made the roads more dangerous? Are 11th-hour drivers more likely to be involved in crashes? Some research suggests no, and that’s the evidence sited by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration when it granted the rule change in November. But advocates say the government’s analysis relies heavily on one study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that is deeply flawed (depending, for instance, on truckers being videotaped; the presence of a camera onboard likely affected their performance).

The bulk of 35 years of research, the petitioners point out, shows that the performance of long-haul truck drivers diminishes even before the 10-hour limit is reached. And while the number of highway fatalities was down the last two years, it went up the first year the new rules were in place. Recent safety improvements to roads and vehicles as well as lower average highway speeds may be masking the effect of the longer hours.

It seems like common sense that fatigue is progressive, and that one is more fatigued and more accident prone in the 11th hour of driving than in the 10th hour.
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Published on: December 24, 2008

Trucker killed in collision with another tractor trailer in Iowa

By Ken Shigley

Handling a lot of truck and bus accident cases in my law practice in Georgia, I often see cases where there are truckers on both sides of the case, as one tractor trailer crashes into another tractor trailer. It drives home the fact that truck driving is a hazardous occupation.

This week’s news included another of those incidents, this time on I-80 in Iowa. Saturday about 7:30 P.M., an unidentified truck driver was killed when he rearended another truck, and his tractor caught fire. The driver of the lead truck was injured.
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Published on: December 4, 2008

Two cement truck rollovers in news this week

By Ken Shigley

This week there have been two news bulletins about cement truck rollover which, fortunately, did not cause any serious injuries. It could be a lot worse.

I learned through one recent case that standard concrete industry truck driver training materials emphasize how handling characteristics of such vehicles differ from other trucks. With the high center of gravity and rotating load, concrete mixer trucks can easily roll over. Industry training materials illustrate how a mixer truck will roll over at 16 mph in making a ninety degree turn on a level surface.

In a recent case, a concrete mixer truck rolled over onto a vehicle, cracking the skull of a baby his in infant seat. The truck driver admitted he was going about 25 mph when he made the turn, that he had never been trained to know the speed at which a concrete mixer truck would roll over, and would never have taken a turn as fast as 16 mph if he had known. That case, which included a claim against the concrete company for negligent training and supervision, settled.
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Published on: November 27, 2008

Obama transition team hears truck safety debate points

By Ken Shigley

While my perspective is that of a trial lawyer handling truck and bus accident injury cases in Atlanta, Georgia, it is necessary to keep up with developments nationally. Therefore, I am following how trucking safety issues are on the agenda for the new administration in Washington.

Last Monday, the transportation transition team met with representatives of major trucking industry interest groups including the American Trucking Association (ATA), the Truckload Carriers Association, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, National Private Truck Council, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), and the truck manufacturers.

According to a report by Jami Jones of Land Line Magazine, some of the issues on which conflicting opinions were presented included:

– Truck size. The American Truicking Association favors using longer and heavier trucks for “productivity improvements.” The OOIDA and others counter that this would take a toll on the nation’s highway and bridge infrastructure.

– Loading and unloading time. The OOIDA representative pointed out that many drivers spend 30 to 40 or more hours per week waiting at loading docks to get loaded or unloaded. Addressing the waiting time problems at loading docks would improve productivity, as well as enhancing safety by helping encourage compliance with hours of service and reducing driver fatigue.

– Speed limiters. The ATA argues for speed limiters on trucks for reasons of safety and energy conservation. The OOIDA contends that speed limiters would hurt the incomes of truck drivers who are paid by the mile, and would have negative safety effects by ability to change lanes and move with the flow of traffic.

– Pressure from brokers, shippers, receivers and motor carriers. The OOIDA representative pointed out the the FMCSA concentrates too much of its enforcement efforts on drivers, while ignore the relationship between highway safety and the coercive demands of freight brokers, shippers, receivers and motor carriers upon drivers. The OOIDA representative pointed out that pointed out that truckers are under immense pressure from motor carriers, shippers and receivers. And that pressure is far more pervasive than the threat of any inspection scheme by FMCSA. “Unless those economic issues are addressed, drivers who become disqualified from driving … for safety violations will simply be replaced by new drivers facing the same economic pressures,” he told the transition team.

That is consistent with horror stories about economic pressures to violate safety rules I have heard from numerous truck drivers over the years.

– Truck parking and idling. Hours of service regulations require truck drivers to take mandatory rest periods. However, there are often inadequate spaces available for trucks to park and local governments restrict truck parking. Representatives urged a national approach to availability of truck parking for rest.

– Other topics discussed included electronic on-board recorders, parking shortages, idling regulations, highway financing and driver training.
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Published on: November 26, 2008

Truck speeding on rain slick freeway with bad brakes caused fiery pileup in tunnel

By Ken Shigley

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 in metro Atlanta.

According to a report from California Highway Patrol investigators, Jose Reyes, 29, was driving at least 65 mph in the rain when his truck veered left and crashed into a concrete median wall after driving through the tunnel. The posted speed limit for that stretch of road is 55 mph, according to a report by Jack Leonard of the Los Angeles Times.

The resulting chain-reaction behind him killed a 6-year-old boy and two adults, and injured 10 others.

The report concluded that Saia Motor Freight Line Inc. was responsible for maintenance of the truck, and that the right front brake of the truck was not in working condition.

Saia Motor Freight Line Inc. is based right here in Fulton County, Georgia, in an office park in the suburb of Johns Creek, Georgia. According to USDOT information, it has 4,339 drivers and 3,552 motor units. While it has a “satisfactory” safety rating, in the past two years it has had 9 fatal crashes and 96 crashes with injuries.

On the face of the LA Times article, there appear to be at least three violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. I would bet there are more.
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Published on: November 26, 2008

Road Safe America promotes Drive Safer Sunday

By Ken Shigley

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 going to copy his article here in order to give his words wider distribution.

Big rig killed our son; drive safely on busiest traffic day

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Published on: November 26, 2008

Ohio trucker who was volunteer fireman killed in collision with Georgia fire truck

By Ken Shigley

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 in Ohio.

The cause of the wreck was not immediately apparent in a report by Gabe Jordan in the Cordele Dispatch.

The fire truck was traveling from Arabi to Cordele for a training session. Since it apparently was not on an emergency call, the state law that requires yielding to an emergency vehicle using lights and sirens would not apply.

County governments in Georgia waive sovereign immunity to the extent of motor vehicle liability insurance. A local government may also indemnify employees for negligent torts committed in the line of duty.
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Published on: November 26, 2008

Big rig crash in morning fog kills woman

By Ken Shigley

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, failed to see stopped traffic in heavy fog. He struck a Ford Explorer, killing the woman inside.

At least two critically important provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations appear to have been violated here.

First, 49 C.F.R.§ 392.14 requires:

Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by . . . rain, dust, . . . adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated.

Two California court cases have held that a trial court must instruct a jury on the federal “extreme caution” standard of care rather than the regular negligence standard under state law. Crooks v. Sammons Trucking, Inc., 2001 WL 1654986 (Cal.App. 3 Dist.,2001); Weaver v. Chavez, 133 Cal.App.4th 1350, 35 Cal.Rptr.3d 514 (Cal.App. 2 Dist.,2005). See also, George v. Estate of Baker, 724 N.W.2d 1 (Minn.,2006).

Second, 49 C.F.R. § 392.1 requires:

Every motor carrier, its officers, agents, representatives, and employees responsible for the management, maintenance, operation, or driving of commercial motor vehicles, or the hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching of drivers, shall be instructed in and comply with the rules in this part.

This case involves a 22-year-old truck driver. My hunch, based on experience in trucking cases, is that his employer checked to see that he had a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License, checked to see if he had any moving violatons in the past three years, and tossed him the keys. I seriously doubt that the employer made any efforts at all to assure that he understood and appreciated the need to slow down or pull over when hazardous driving conditions made operation of the tractor trailer unsafe.

As a result, an innocent motorist is dead and her family grieves.

The challenge facing an attorney handling such a case is often to educate judges who don’t even know that they are ignorant of motor carrier safety law. That is a continuing challenge as it requires getting a busy judge to focus on a body of federal law with which he or she may have great familiarity. Too many lawyers and judges think a tractor trailer crash is “just a big car wreck” and fail to recognize the legal and technical issues that must be considered.
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Published on: September 24, 2008

Florida truck driver on cell phone hits school bus, kills child

By Ken Shigley

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 to stop for it and rammed the school bus forward 294 feet.

See our recent posts on cell phone distractions and the absence of seat belts on busses.
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