Truck Accidents

A coalition of truck safety advocates are asking a federal court to overturn a ruling that allows truck drivers to drive one more hour before taking a break. A new rule, introduced by the Bush Administration in 2003 had increase the number of hours that a commercial trucker can drive during a 14-hour period-from 10 hours to 11 hours-before taking a break.

Parents Against Tired Truckers says that a person’s response reflexes are up to 50% slower after 17 hours without sleep. Driver fatigue is a major cause of truck accidents.

Opponents have already persuaded a federal court on two occasions to reject putting the extended hours into place. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) currently has an “interim final rule” in place that allows commercial truckers to drive no more than 11 hours a day and no more than 70 hours a week. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters claims that they have information that proves the rule is safe. The coalition wants the court to enforce its order that strikes down the “hours of service” rule.

An inbound Green Line trolley and a flatbed truck crossing the trolley tracks near Coolidge Corner collided on Tuesday. The crash caused the truck to flip onto its side across the tracks on Beacon Street. Fuel was spilled onto the road. The trolley was carrying 200 passengers and traveling at 10 mph.

The truck’s driver and three passengers that were riding the trolley were taken to area hospitals. They sustained neck and back injuries in the trolley-truck accident.

In Massachusetts:

• Approximately 34 fatal truck accidents occur every year • 1.075 truck crashes are non-fatal
Common causes of truck accidents include driver fatigue, aggressive driving, defective breaks, tires, or lights, cell phone use, driving longer than the number of hours that are legally allowed, speeding, and failure to properly inspect trucks for maintenance.

Trucks and trolleys, as well as other vehicles designated for public transportation, must follow more stringent safety requirements than the drivers of motorcycles and cars. If these regulations are disregarded and a driver of a truck or trolley causes an accident that injures or kills another person, a personal injury or wrongful death case can be brought against the driver.

There is also a possibility that the truck company or trolley company could be held liable if their actions-or inaction–enabled the accident in any way. The truck in this accident is owned by Rebars & Mesh Inc., a steel and concrete company from Haverhill.

Collisions involving large trucks and other large vehicles frequently lead to serious injury and death. One of the reasons for this is that these kinds of vehicles are so heavy that the damage they inflict upon collision can be catastrophic.

MBTA trolley, flatbed collide; 4 hurt, Boston.com, September 5, 2007
Truck Accidents, Lawcore

Related Web Resources:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Rebars and Mesh
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