When a large truck crashes, small cars’ passengers are usually the victim. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that in 2015, 3,852 people died in crashes involving large trucks. The vast majority (69%) of those victims were people riding in passenger vehicles. Sixteen percent of these deaths were truck occupants and 15 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists. As a interstate carrier, it is vital to know the factors that contribute to serious accidents. If you are involved in an accident, immediately contact an experienced trucking attorney to represent your interests and protect your livelihood and family.
Mechanical Defects
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety researchers collaborated with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to examine factors affecting the risk of crashing for large trucks operated by interstate carriers. Their research determined that if an interstate carrier had a serious mechanical defect, there was three times the risk of having a crash.
Driver Fatigue
Long hours behind the wheel can not only lead to exhaustion, but to accidents. Driver fatigue is a significant contributor to crashes involving large trucks. This problem can be exacerbated by the use of the short-haul exemption for federal hours-of-service rules. The reason for the relationship between exhaustion and short-haul drivers is that while short-haul drivers have to comply with federal rules on rest and driving times, short-haul exemption drivers do not have the same requirements for logging their driving hours. As a result, without a requirement to log hours, some short-haul drivers drive longer than they should, become exhausted, and get into accidents.
Short-Haul Exemption Drivers
Short-haul exemption drivers are drivers who normally drive short distances, but get an exemption work as an interstate carrier. They are not necessarily accustomed to the legal requirements of interstate carriers. Less experience can translate to less ability, less skill, and more accidents. A lack of familiarity with the legal requirements that interstate carriers have to comply with can result in increased safety violations and accidents.
Are There Safety Solutions on the Horizon?
To combat inaccurate mileage logs, there is a new federal mandate requiring electronic logging devices (ELDs) – set to take effect in late 2017 – there is a belief that automating the tracking of hours driven will decrease the impulse to drive to exhaustion and make those unsafe extra hours trackable, and ultimately punishable by administrative or legal action.
Another technological advance that could have an effect on highway safety is crash avoidance technology, which is now being required on large trucks. These technological changes seek to mitigate the damage by large trucks. Specifically, electronic stability control systems, which help control situations where drivers either understeer or oversteer, and roll stability control that reduce rollovers are being added to trucks and may soon be required. Having anti-lock breaks is another factor reducing the chance of a catastrophic crash.
If you are an long haul trucker or interstate carrier, you need to have an understanding of both the safety concerns that could lead to accidents, as well as the legal changes that are affecting your profession. New rules aimed at curbing the danger posed by large trucks to passenger vehicles affect how you do business.
Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you need to understand new rules affecting interstate carriers or if you are in an accident.
Contacting the Mississippi Trucking Attorney at Barrett Law can mean the difference between working in compliance with the law and protecting your livelihood and losing your ability to drive. There are serious safety and financial implications to your decision to attain knowledgeable legal counsel as you work to comply with the law or react to an accident.