Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

High gas prices have one benefit: slower trucks and a reduced risk of Georgia trucking accidents.

Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers understand all too well the dangers speeding trucks pose to motorists on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports about one-third of all fatal accidents involve speed. Of those killed in crashes with tractor-trailers or other large trucks, three-quarters are the occupants of other vehicles or non-occupants, such as bicyclists and pedestrians.

While the Wall Street Journal article opens with a trucker reminiscing about the fun of barreling down the road at 100 mph, we know such accidents are nearly always fatal for the unfortunate victims in passenger cars that are forced to share the road.

The good news is that soaring fuel costs have trucking companies pushing drivers to conserve by driving slower. Several companies are using computerized governors to cut speeds from 70 mph to 65 mph. Cash bonuses for fuel-saving drivers are also becoming more common. One driver reports being chastised for a 5 mph average -- his company is looking for 7 mph.

Unfortunately, even as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration toots its own horn over enforcement efforts, the government has thus far failed to make such speed-regulating technology mandatory for all trucks on the road.

The move can reduce a driver's pay -- since most are still paid by the hour -- another issue the government refuses to address. The end result is often speeding, tired, overworked drivers and falsified logbooks. Still, saving gas is worth it; Every decline of 5 mph gains about half a mile per gallon in fuel economy.

In the old days, the CB radio helped spot cops and falsified logbooks hid illegally long workdays.

"I used to have three logbooks," one trucker said. "You could run anywhere you wanted to."

As we have reported here on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog, officials continue to tweak hours-of-service rules, which govern how long a driver can remain behind the wheel. Most recently, they were increased during the Bush Administration. But until the government mandates data records to replace the hand-written logbooks, abuses will continue to put motorists at high risk of being involved in a serious or fatal accident.

Some drivers claim slower trucks are more dangerous because speeding drivers whip around them. While we all need to do our part to stay safe around tractor-trailers, nothing is as dangerous as an 80,000 pound bullet barreling down the highway.