Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

A new law permits some of the heaviest trucks in the nation to roll down Florida highways, and increases the risk of serious Georgia trucking accidents involving overweight Florida semis.

Road Safe America decried the increase in weight limit -- from 80,000 to 88,000 pounds -- as nothing more than a handout to big business that comes at the expense of motorist safety.

In most cases, Georgia trucks are limited to 80,000 pounds, though spotty enforcement and small fines often make it worth a driver's risk to increase profits by running heavy.

That 8,000 pounds is a big deal: It adds the weight of two passenger cars to trucks that are barreling down Florida highways at 70 mph. A truck's weight is one of the primary dangers for other motorists on the road. And Florida semis are now heavier than anywhere in America except Idaho, Maine, Washington and North Dakota.

One of nine fatal accidents on the road involves a semi tractor-trailer or other large commercial truck, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. More than 380,000 large truck crashes were reported in 2008, leading to the death of 4,229 motorists and injuring more than 90,000 others. Georgia semi accidents claimed 179 lives that year.

Trucking companies claim it makes for more efficient delivery of goods by allowing for fewer trips. Safety advocates aren't buying it.

"The dangers of increasing tractor-trailer truck weights are well known - they are harder to stop, steer and more vulnerable to roll over during a crash," said Tom Guilmet, the Executive Director of the Florida Safety Council. "But, by far, the most compelling objection to heavier trucks is the fact that they will cause more deaths and injuries on our highways."

Continue reading "Heavier Florida semis could mean heavier trucks in Georgia, increased risk of trucking accidents" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) require that all trucking companies systematically “inspect, repair and maintain or cause to be systematically inspected, repaired and maintained, all motor vehicles subject to its control.” By law, therefore, all motor carriers must maintain its vehicles in good working order. This duty obviously requires trucking companies to maintain repair records and inspection reports, which must be filed by all drivers each day a vehicle is driven, as well as a duty to make periodic inspections of each vehicle under its control. The failure to so maintain a vehicle can subject a motor carrier to liability for beach of its duties under these safety regulations. If an operational defect in a vehicle is not discovered, which could have been discovered in the exercise of due care, this can be a independent basis for liability against the trucking company. If a driver reports defects in its vehicle in pre-trip inspection reports or post-trip inspection reports and the company fails to address such issues, this too can be a violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which imposes liability upon the trucking company. In short, amongst its many other duties under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a motor carrier or trucking company must maintain its trucks and equipment in safe working conditions. A failure to do so is a basis of liability and if it is established that a company allowed a defective and unsafe vehicle to be placed on the roadway in violation of such duties, such a violation under the right circumstances can also be the basis of a punitive damage claim against the motor carrier.
We have set forth the legal duty to comply with the safety regulations below.

Continue reading "Duties Of Inspection Under The FMCSR" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced this week that a two-week enforcement sweep has resulted in the removal of 109 commercial bus and truck drivers from the road for violations of drug and alcohol policy.

Our Atlanta accident attorneys have written recently on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog about the drug testing issue. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has specific requirements for drug testing, including testing in the wake of serious or fatal accidents.

"If you are a commercial driver or carrier operating in violation of federal drug and alcohol laws, we will remove you from our roadways," said Secretary Ray LaHood. "Parents deserve to know their children are being driven by bus drivers who are drug and alcohol free, and every motorist deserves to feel confident that the drivers of large trucks and buses are safe and sober."

Unfortunately, the issue is more complicated; the federal government continues to permit truckers to work with prescription narcotics in their systems, provided they are under the care of a physician. The same drugs would be refused to an airline pilot. Additionally, while we commend any enforcement effort, we find little solace in the news that a spot check found more than 100 violators.

The crackdown, which ran from June 21 to July 2, will also result in enforcement action against 175 carriers. The government gave no reason why it waited six weeks to issue the results, which were posted on Wednesday.

During the two-week sweep, investigators examined the drug and alcohol records of drivers working for commercial bus and trucking companies, including long-haul truckers, hazardous material transporters, interstate passenger carriers and school bus drivers. The goal was to remove drivers who jump from carrier to carrier to evade testing and reporting requirements.

"FMCSA is committed to ensuring that only safe commercial drivers and carriers are allowed to operate," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "Our annual drug and alcohol strike force is just one of the ways we weed out those 'bad actors' and make our roads safer for everyone."

The more than 100 drivers identified in the sweep could face fines and revocation of their commercial driver's licenses. Both the drivers and the carriers will have an opportunity to contest the charges.

We are curious about whether the FMCSA will follow these cases through to conclusion and report back about how many of these truckers were ultimately prohibited from returning to work. Our Georgia trucking accidents lawyers think it's likely most, if not all, will continue working during the appeals process and will ultimately remain on the road.

Continue reading "Two-week sting faults more than 100 truckers for violating alcohol and drug abuse policies" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) requires diligence on the part of a trucking company, not only when it employs a driver, but also after he/she begins operating one of its vehicles. In previous entries, we have discussed mandatory pre-employment background checks which must be conducted by trucking companies.

Section 391.25 of the FMCSR requires as well that a trucking company conduct a review of each of its driver’s driving records for the preceding 12 months. A motor carrier must also obtain reports from each of its drivers with a list of all violations of motor vehicle traffic law and citations of which the driver had been convicted and/or forfeited a bond or collateral during the preceding 12 months.

A trucking company must not only obtain such reports of employee/driver accidents or violations, but must also analyze these reports to determine whether any of the violations are such that the driver must be disqualified from driving for a period of up to one year. As in example, a disqualifying offense would be driving a trucking rig while under the influence of alcohol.

In addition, a trucking company’s supervision obligations include the duty to monitor the actual hours being logged by its drivers to make sure that they are not operating their rigs more than is allowed by law. The failure to monitor driver logs can be a grounds of liability against a trucking company, particularly in situations where a fatigued driver causes a collision.

Thus, among the many duties imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a trucking company must diligently supervise all of the drivers in its employ, not only checking out their background thoroughly before employing them, but also during the period of their employ, constantly monitoring their activities to make sure they are in compliance with all applicable safety regulations.

Failure to properly supervise a driver can be an independent basis for liability against a trucking company - as it should be.

The applicable regulation is reprinted below:

Continue reading "Federal Requirements For Supervision of Truck Driver/Employees" »

Georgia injury lawyers who handle trucking cases know that depending on the circumstances of a tractor-trailer accident, a trucking company is required to have a driver tested for the presence of drugs and alcohol in his/her system. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has specific rules governing when these tests are required.

These regulations provide that a trucking company must perform a drug and alcohol test on a driver whenever he is involved in an automobile accident resulting in a fatality. Testing is also required when the investigating officer issues a citation to the driver involved in the accident and the accident causes bodily injury requiring immediate treatment away from the accident scene or the accident causes disabling damage to any motor vehicle which must be towed from the scene. Disabling damage does not include damage which can be remedied at the scene without special tools or parts, tire damage without any other damage, headlight or taillight damage, or damage to turn signals, horn or windshield wipers. The post-accident testing should occur as soon as practicable after the accident. A motor carrier’s cancellation of a scheduled post accident test is admissible as evidence tending to show that the carrier was trying to conceal the driver’s potential use of alcohol or controlled substances.

Recently, we represented the victim of a tractor-trailer accident in a serious injury case which involved this issue. The truck driver in that case was never tested as required. The trucking company simply told him to go get tested but never took him for the drug test. Accordingly, although they did not “cancel" a post accident drug test, they did nothing affirmative to make sure that he was tested. The regulations clearly put the onus of compliance on the trucking company.

Continue reading "Tractor-Trailer Post Accident Drug And Alcohol Testing" »

A woman was injured Friday morning in a Georgia trucking accident when her car was involved in a collision with a semi, the Newnan Times-Herald reported.

She was transported to an Atlanta hospital in unknown condition following the accident, which occurred at about 9:30 a.m., according to the Georgia State Patrol.

The patrol reports that the 18-wheeler was traveling south on Highway 85 when the driver attempted to turn left onto Highway 16. The tractor-trailer turned directly into the path of the woman's Acura Integra, which was heading north on Highway 85.

The victim was trapped in her car and had to be extricated by emergency personnel. She was transported by medical helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital. The driver of the semi was not hurt.

Unfortunately, this is all too typical of a Georgia semi accident; motorists frequently suffer very serious or fatal injuries while the truck driver walks away unharmed. In 2008, one of every nine fatal traffic accidents in the United States involved a collision with a large truck, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

More than 350,000 crashes involving large trucks occur in the United States each year. Fatal trucking accidents have claimed more than 4,000 lives each year for more than a decade. In 2008, a total of 4,066 motorists were killed and more than 66.000 were injured in accidents with large commercial trucks. Georgia trucking accidents killed 179 motorists that year, more than any state except California, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.

In three-quarters of the cases, those killed were occupants of the other vehicle. Only 16 percent involved a truck occupant (another 10 percent involved a pedestrian or victim other than a vehicle occupant).

Continue reading "Woman seriously injured after Newnan, Georgia tractor-trailer accident" »

Unfortunately, the use of controlled substances by tractor-trailer drivers, whether prescription drugs or illegal drugs, is more common that one would think. As an example, the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP represented a client who who sustained serious injuries, including a brain injury as a result of a tractor-trailer accident. The client was struck, as a pedestrian, by a tractor-trailer that left the roadway and ran off on the shoulder of the interstate highway. After filing suit against the driver and the trucking company we discovered that the truck driver had sustained a non work related spinal injury months before the collision that left him with low back pain and numbness in one of his legs. He was taking pain medication at the time of the accident.

The regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which governs the operation of commercial trucks, clearly set forth common sense rules prohibiting this conduct. The regulations of the FMCSA provide that a driver cannot use a controlled substance when reporting for or remaining on duty requiring the performance of a safety-sensitive function unless the use of the controlled substance is pursuant to the instructions of a physician, who has advised the driver that the substance will not adversely affect his ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle. A motor carrier may require a driver to disclose any therapeutic drug use related to a medical condition. A driver cannot report for duty, remain on duty or perform a safety-sensitive function if he tests positive for controlled substances. An employer is prohibited from allowing a driver who has used controlled substances or tests positive for a controlled substance to perform or continue to perform a safety-sensitive function.

Continue reading "Use Of Controlled Substances By Tractor-Trailer Drivers" »

Operating a commercial truck, whether it be a tractor-trailer, box truck or a dump truck, with unsafe equipment is a common cause of truck accidents. Catastrophic injuries or death frequently results when negligent behavior or faulty equipment leads to a truck crash.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP recently settled a tragic wrongful death case involving a dump truck that overturned and collided with our client’s car. The collision occurred as a result of a tire blowout on the dump truck. The truck tire failed for two reasons, under-inflation and speeding.

A recent study by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstrated that the top two types of damage for tire debris fragments found on the roadside were: road hazard (39%) and excessive heat (30%).

It is well known that a primary cause of tire failure is heat buildup. Head buildup in truck tires usually results from under-inflation, overloading, high speed operation or, as was the case in our client’s wrongful death case, a combination of these factors. Also, vehicles operating with low tire air pressure have reduced handling capacity and fuel economy.

Technology in the form of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) now exists that can monitor tire inflation and warn the driver of unsafe low tire pressure that could result in tire failure. For large trucks that may have a high-pressure air source (air compressor) on board for brakes, a better alternative to TPMS may be central tire inflation (CTI) systems that can automatically keep tire inflated to the proper pressure.

Some of the advances in reducing tire failures on large trucks have begun and this technology will no doubt continue to appear in passenger car tires as time goes on.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has specific cargo securement rules aimed at helping to prevent unsafe loads from causing Georgia trucking accidents and semi accidents nationwide.

Our Atlanta semi accident lawyers frequently address the danger a semi's weight poses to other motorists on the road. A fully-loaded tractor-trailer weighs 80,000 pounds -- about 20 times the weight of a passenger vehicle. And a semi typically takes three times longer to stop.

What we spend less time talking about are the loads. Each type of load carries its own risk. Liquid loads can be challenging, because of the effects of sloshing, and because of the hazardous materials such cargo may contain. Open loads, dump trucks and flatbeds all contain their own unique risks. Frequently a truck may be carrying more than one load, and the handling characteristics will change after offloading. Delivery of a load at the rear of a trailer may also destabilize a load left aboard, or a trucker may fail to properly secure the remaining load before departing for a subsequent destination.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that loads be capable of withstanding significant forces applied from different directions: deceleration in the forward direction; acceleration in the rearward direction; and acceleration in the lateral direction.

The federal safety agency also has specific requirements and rules for securing loads, including:

-Use of securement devices

-The proper use of tiedowns

-The use of unmarked tiedowns

-The use of unmarked and unrated anchor points

-Cargo placement and restraint

-Minimum numbers of tiedowns

-Commodity specific securement requirements

The securement of specialty commodities is a frequent cause of trucking accidents. These can include logs, metal coils, paper rolls, concrete pipes, intermodal containers, automobiles, heavy equipment, scrap metal, roll-on containers and large rocks.

Improper loads frequently lead to serious or fatal accidents. And the loads themselves can cause havoc on the highway when they break loose and become tumbling projectiles. Truckers and trucking companies have an obligation to the safety of motorists to ensure that these loads are properly secured. A motorist who is seriously injured in an accident caused by an unsafe load should be properly compensated.

Continue reading "Unsafe loads a leading cause of Georgia trucking accidents" »

Operating a commercial truck with unsafe equipment is a common cause of tractor-trailer accidents. Catastrophic injuries or death frequently result when negligent behavior or faulty equipment leads to a truck crash.

Lately we have noticed lots of debris on our roads highways, including remnants of retreaded truck tires. In fact, WBS TV in Atlanta has just done a story about the increase of retread debris littering our highways. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24456963/detail.html

As most Georgia injury lawyers know, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration addresses almost every aspect of commercial trucking when it comes to safety issues. What may come as a surprise to most people is that the regulations do not prohibit a trucking company from using retreaded tires, even on the front steering axle.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) commissioned a study with three objectives, one of which was to determine the extent of truck tire failures for retread tires. The study involved the collection and inspection of tire debris. Some of the conclusions reached at the conclusion of the study were:

* Retreads were not over represented in the tire debris items collected.
* Results indicated the majority of tire debris collected was not a result of manufacturing or retreading process deficiencies
* Truck/trailer vehicle crashes with a coded defect account for less than 1% of all crashes annually.
* Approximately 68% of tire fragments were from retread tires and 18% were from original tread tires. The remaining 14% could not be determined.
* Results were consistent with the estimated distribution of OE and retreads in service.
* The top two types of damage for debris fragments were: road hazard (39%) and excessive heat (30%).

One thing this study demonstrates is that excessive heat (30%) accounts for a large percentage of tire failures. Excessive heat is generated when tires are not kept properly inflated, a problem which will be addressed in a subsequent blog article.

Yesterday, a tractor-trailer accident in north Georgia blocked traffic for hours. The AJC reported that around 4:00 p.m. the tractor-trailer, which had been traveling eastbound on Ga. Hwy 53, left the roadway near a bridge west of Dawsonville and burst into flames. Fortunately no other vehicles were involved and the driver escaped without injury.

Although the cause of this truck accident has not been reported, as Georgia injury lawyers, we wonder whether driver fatigue may be responsible. Many commercial vehicle accidents are caused by a driver’s inattentiveness or fatigue resulting from the operation of the vehicle for an excessive amount of time. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide time limits by which drivers and their employers must abide. In addition, drivers are required to keep a Drivers Log documenting driving times and rest breaks. Carriers have a duty to monitor their drivers’ logs through an appropriate log verification procedure and to establish proper control of driving time to ensure compliance with the maximum hours of service regulations set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Continue reading "North Georgia Truck Accident - Was Driver Fatigue Responsible?" »

The Georgia tractor trailer truck accident lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen first hand what can happen when a tractor trailer or any other commercial truck operates with defective tires or tires that are not kept properly inflated. Many serious injury and wrongful death cases result from these problems.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations address almost every aspect of commercial trucking when it comes to safety issues. Tires are no exception. Although most of the regulations seem like common sense requirements.

The regulations provide that no commercial motor vehicle may be operated on any tire that has body ply or belt material exposed through the tread or sidewall, has any tread or sidewall separation, is flat or has an audible leak, or has a cut to the extent that the ply or belt material is exposed.

Any tire on the front wheels of a bus, truck, or truck tractor must have a tread groove pattern depth of at least 4/32 of an inch at any point in a major tread groove. All other tires must have at least 2/3 tread groove pattern depth.

The regulations also provide that trucks may not be operated with loads that cause the weight capacity of the tires to be exceed.