Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations specify that commercial truck drivers must use “extreme caution” in hazardous weather conditions. Like many other states, Georgia’s Commercial Drivers Manual provides that truckers should slow down as much as one-third (1/3) of their normal and customary speed during hazardous conditions. There are good reasons for these regulations. Indeed, in an analysis of large truck crash collisions conducted in 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration determined that 23% of all tractor-trailer collisions involved truckers who were driving too fast for conditions.

Common sense indicates that it takes longer to stop a large tractor-trailer than it does an automobile. Automobiles average several thousand pounds in weight whereas some tractor trailers can average on 80,000 pounds with their loads. If there is a collision, it is going to be bad because of the disparity in the weights of vehicles typically involved in collisions with these big rigs. As is always the case with commercial trucks in general, safety is the operative term that must be paramount, not only for the truck drivers and their employers but also for the motoring public.

Truck drivers in Georgia and elsewhere that do not exercise extreme caution during adverse weather conditions are endangering every single person on the road. Drivers who continue to travel at high speeds during rain, sleet or snow are acting recklessly and are violating their mandatory safety duties and obligations. If a collision results from a driver’s failure to exercise extreme caution during adverse weather conditions, not only should liability be imposed against the driver and his employer, but punitive damages would be appropriate to deter the company from allowing its drivers to engage in such reckless conduct.