Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

A Covington, Georgia tractor-trailer accident shut down I-20 at exit 98 for most of the day on Tuesday, the Rockdale Citizen reported.

As our Atlanta semi accident attorneys reported earlier this year on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog unsafe or hazardous loads pose an additional danger to other motorists on the road. In this case, hazardous materials complicated cleanup. In other cases, shifting loads can cause accidents and can even come loose and become a danger on the highways.

Investigators from the Georgia Highway Patrol believe one truck had stopped for a lane closure when it was rear-ended by a second truck. The first truck overturned at the base of the ramp entering I-20 from Georgia Highway 11.

As we reported earlier this month, the holidays can increase the risk that motorists will be involved in a Georgia tractor-trailer accident. Truckers will be hurrying home for the holidays and, in some cases, taking off on Sunday looking to make up for lost time. More motorists will also be on the road. Inclement weather, drunk and distracted driving and speeding may also increase the risks.

Two people were injured in Tuesday's crash. The driver and passenger of the second truck were trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated by rescue personnel. One was flown by helicopter to Atlanta trauma. The other was transported by ambulance.

One comment on the newspaper's website suggested Georgia have slower speed limits for large trucks. The motorist reported speeding just to get out of the way of large trucks and other commercial vehicles speeding down the road.

Continue reading " Hazardous chemicals complicates Covington trucking accident " »

Fatigued drivers of trucks and busses present a major hazard to motorists. This problem has been a major cause of concern for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Last week, in an effort to curb this serious problem, the FMCSA issued a regulatory proposal that would revise hours-of-service (HOS) requirements for commercial truck drivers.

“A fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a large commercial truck,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We are committed to an hours-of-service rule that will help create an environment where commercial truck drivers are rested, alert and focused on safety while on the job.”

The publication of this proposed rule coincides with the timeframe established in a court settlement agreement that requires FMCSA to publish a final HOS rule by July 26, 2011.

This new HOS proposal would retain the “34-hour restart” provision allowing drivers to restart the clock on their weekly 60 or 70 hours by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. However, the restart period would have to include two consecutive off-duty periods from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Drivers would be allowed to use this restart only once during a seven-day period.

Additionally the proposal would require commercial truck drivers to complete all driving within a 14-hour workday, and to complete all on-duty work-related activities within 13 hours to allow for at least a one hour break. It also leaves open for comment whether drivers should be limited to 10 or 11 hours of daily driving time, although FMCSA currently favors a 10-hour limit.

Driving hours are regulated by federal HOS rules , which are designed to prevent commercial vehicle-related crashes and fatalities by prescribing on-duty and rest periods for drivers.

Commercial truck drivers who violate this proposed rule would face civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense. Trucking companies that allow their drivers to violate the proposal’s driving limits would face penalties of up to $11,000 for each offense.

Other key provisions include the option of extending a driver’s daily shift to 16 hours twice a week to accommodate for issues such as loading and unloading at terminals or ports, and allowing drivers to count some time spent parked in their trucks toward off-duty hours.

Truck and bus safety comes within the purview of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Last week, the FMCSA took a major step toward improving commercial truck and bus safety with the launch of the Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) program.

The centerpiece of CSA is the Safety Measurement System (SMS), which will analyze all safety-based violations from inspections and crash data to determine a commercial motor carrier's on-road performance. The new safety program will allow FMCSA to reach more carriers earlier and deploy a range of corrective interventions to address a carrier's specific safety problems.

The CSA program is designed to help the FMCSA more easily identify unsafe commercial truck and bus companies. It is felt that better data and targeted enforcement will raise the safety bar for commercial carriers and encourage them to take action before safety problems occur.

The program also advances the Obama Administration's open government initiative by providing the public with safety data in a more user-friendly format. This will give consumers a better picture of those carriers that pose a safety risk. CSA was also tested in nine pilot states before the program was launched.

The SMS uses seven safety improvement categories called BASICs to examine a carrier's on-road performance and potential crash risk. The BASICs are Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator. Under FMCSA's old measurement system, carrier performance was assessed in only four broad categories.

By looking at a carrier's safety violations in each SMS category, FMCSA and state law enforcement will be better equipped to identify carriers with patterns of high-risk behaviors and apply interventions that provide carriers the information necessary to change unsafe practices early on.

Safety interventions include early warning letters, targeted roadside inspections and focused compliance reviews that concentrate enforcement resources on specific issues identified by the SMS.

FMCSA will continue to conduct onsite comprehensive compliance reviews for carriers with safety issues across multiple BASICs. And, where a carrier has not taken the appropriate corrective action, FMCSA can invoke strong civil penalties.

Fatigued drivers of large trucks and buses are an ever-present danger on the roadways. Driving hours are regulated by federal hours-of-service rules, which are designed to prevent commercial vehicle-related crashes and fatalities by prescribing on-duty and rest periods for drivers.

Despite these federal regulations, our lawyers constantly discover hours- of- service violations and falsified log books attempting to hide these violations.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered JBS Carriers, Inc. of Greeley, Colorado to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) on its entire fleet of over 700 commercial trucks by March 2011 or pay $81,780 in civil fines.

Electronic on-board recorders are devices attached to commercial vehicles that automatically record the number of hours drivers spend operating the vehicle.

The order comes in response to a comprehensive investigation by FMCSA's Western Service Center that found the company in serious violation of federal hours-of-service (HOS) rules and commercial driver's license (CDL) requirements.

In the final settlement agreement issued by FMCSA, the agency cited JBS Carriers for 102 counts of falsifying drivers' hours-of-service records and three counts of allowing drivers with a suspended, revoked or canceled commercial driver's license to operate a motor vehicle.

JBS Carriers must also train current and future drivers on the proper use of EOBRs and develop a safety management system that incorporates EOBR data into drivers' hours-of-service oversight.

Distracted driving by truck drivers is a major cause of deadly accidents on the highways of the United States. With the advent of new technologies, such as cell phones and handheld computers, this problem has skyrocketed.

Nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2009. Distraction-related fatalities represented 16 percent of overall traffic fatalities in 2009, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research.

As part of its campaign to put an end to the practice of distracted driving, the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed a new safety regulation that would specifically prohibit interstate commercial truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV).

In a press release announcing the new effort, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said “every time a commercial truck or bus driver takes his or her eyes off the road to use a cell phone, even for a few seconds, the driver places everyone around them at risk,". The proposed rule will go a long way toward keeping a driver's full attention focused on the road.

The proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule would prohibit commercial drivers from reaching for, holding or dialing a cell phone while operating a CMV. Drivers who violate these restrictions would face federal civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense and disqualification of their commercial driver's license (CDL) for multiple offenses. Additionally, states would suspend a driver's CDL after two or more violations of any state law on hand-held cell phone use.

Motor carriers that allow their drivers to use hand-held cell phones while driving would face a maximum penalty of $11,000.

Approximately four million interstate commercial drivers would be affected by this proposal.

FMCSA research shows that using a hand-held cell phone while driving requires a commercial driver to take several risky steps. In particular, commercial drivers reaching for an object, such as a cell phone, while driving are three times more likely to be involved in a crash or other safety-critical event. Drivers dialing a hand-held cell phone while driving increase their risk by six times.

Many of the largest carriers, such as UPS, Covenant Transport, and Wal-Mart, already have company policies in place banning their drivers from using hand-held phones.
In September of this year, the FMCSA issued a regulation banning text messaging while operating a commercial motor vehicle.

The proposed rule is copied below.

Continue reading " Distracted Driving Targeted " »

The Savannah Morning News reports authorities are citing truckers for running down the berm of Georgia 21 near I-95 in an effort to avoid rush-hour congestion.

Our Georgia trucking accident lawyers remind motorists that December is a dangerous time for commercial truck accidents in Atlanta, Savannah and throughout Georgia. Heavy holiday traffic, speeding, drunk driving, bad weather and truckers who are hurrying home for the holidays can all contribute to serious or fatal Georgia semi accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that Georgia is among the five states with the most fatal trucking accidents. More than 160 motorists were killed in accidents involving semis and other large commercial trucks in 2008.

Law enforcement can't be counted on to catch every offender. Even the Morning News reports driving down the emergency lane on I-95 to exit Ga. 21 likely won't meet with the same scorn. Port Wentworth police say the issue is a safety concern on Ga. 21 while those using the emergency lane on I-95 are just trying to get out of the way of the flow of traffic.

Regardless, passing vehicles on the right is never safe. Motorists are not expecting vehicles to be approaching on the right side. Pulling into the path of an 80,000 pound tractor-trailer, no matter how slow it is traveling, is a recipe for disaster.

As we reported in October on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, it is the same intersection where a tractor-trailer accident killed the 41-year-old driver of a small pickup. Investigators say traffic congestion contributed to the accident after the semi crested the hill at 65 mph and found traffic at a dead stop.

Officers say the intersection has been growing more congested for years as the result of population increases in west Chatham cities and Effingham County.

There is talk of building a deceleration lane. In the meantime, it is a case of motorists beware at that intersection and many others throughout Georgia this holiday season. During one recent Port Wentworth police operation, four tractor-trailers were stopped in about two hours. Each was seen by police illegally using the emergency lane to bypass traffic on Georgia 21.

"Those trucks are heavy and we've seen it - they can cause a lot of damage," Capt. Matt Libby said. "I've gotten several complaints about people getting tickets, but we're still going to be out there."

Continue reading " Port Wentworth cracking down on unsafe Georgia truckers at busy intersections " »

The Georgia Highway Patrol will participate in National Lifesaver weekend this weekend, Dec. 17 to 19 to promote safe travel during the upcoming holiday season.

Our Atlanta trucking accident attorneys remind motorists to be extra cautious when driving around semis or other large commercial vehicles on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports more than 380,000 large truck accidents occurred on the nation's roads in 2008, killing 4,229 motorists and injuring more than 90,000 others.


Georgia truck accidents claimed 179 lives that year. Only California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas reported more fatal tractor-trailer accidents.

This is the 19th year the patrol has participated in the program. Col. Bill Hitchens, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, said impaired driving enforcement will be a priority.

“We are joining this nationwide effort because it focuses on driving behaviors that kill across the nation and this is not just a local problem,” he said. “This time of year is especially dangerous on our roads and that danger is only compounded by alcohol and drug impaired drivers.”

The Patrol and the Motor Carrier Compliance Division officers will also participate in Lights on For Life Day Friday Dec. 17 to remind motorists not to drink and drive. Officers will drive with their headlights on throughout the day to remind motorists of the dangers.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police coordinates the National Holiday Lifesaver Weekend, which is a campaign of Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort). C.A.R.E. aims to reduce the number of traffic fatalities nationwide by coordinating enforcement efforts, including high-visibility patrols and road checks.

Continue reading " Safety weekend aims to increase awareness of dangers of drunk driving, Georgia trucking accidents " »

The Highway Patrol reported several tractor-trailer accidents in Georgia over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Macon.com reported that an Augusta couple crashed their Mitsubishi Galant into the side of a semi on U.S. 80 west at the U.S. 441 bypass in Dublin. A 72-year-old man was killed, according to the Laurens County Coroner's office.

His wife did not suffer life-threatening injuries and was taken to Fairview Park Hospital for treatment.

Authorities report the couple is believed to have run a red light.

In other news, the Baker County Press reported that a 54-year-old Florida man died in a semi accident while returning from a Georgia hunting trip.

Police say his pickup drifted out of its lane and into the path of a northbound limerock truck.

These cases illustrate the importance of consulting with an experienced Georgia trucking accident lawyer whenever you or a loved one is involved in an accident with a semi or other commercial vehicle. In three-quarters of such accidents, the occupants of the other vehicle are seriously injured or killed.

In cases where a motorist was found to be at fault, a thorough and independent review should be conducted to determine whether or not the truck driver or trucking company also shares blame for causing the accident. Vehicle maintenance, truck weight, and proper compliance with hours-of-service and other safety regulations are important considerations when determining fault in an accident.

Continue reading " Thanksgiving trucking accidents a reminder of hazards faced by Georgia motorists " »