Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

Federally regulated hours-of-service rules for trucking companies are in place for a reason. Without them, fatigued truck drivers put other motorists in danger of a trucking accident in Georgia and elsewhere. Truck drivers are often required by their employers to make long trips and work extended hours but these work conditions can take a toll on the body and cause a driver to become drowsy or otherwise lose their edge.

Road Safe America recently reported that a state legislator from New Hampshire is knocking the government for trying to keep trucking companies in line by placing stringent rules on drivers for the number of hours permitted to work in a day or in any given work week.

Atlanta trucking accident attorneys understand that drivers make the most money by working long hours but it simply isn't safe for other roadway users around them. Not only are motorists at tremendous risk of an accident caused by a fatigued driver but pedestrians and bicyclists have very little chance of survival from a collision with a large commercial truck or tractor-trailer. State Senator Ayotte is considering an amendment to ban the use of Federal funds to issue a final rule on driver and roadway safety for drowsy drivers in the commercial bus and trucking industries.

We first posted about the new proposal for hours-of-service (HOS) rule on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog last December. The HOS proposal included a "34-hour restart" in which truck drivers could not begin the clock on a new weekly 60 or 70 hours worked without taking a 34-hour break from driving duties in between. New legislation was also proposed that a truck driver couldn't work more than 14 hours in any given workday. Violations of these proposed rules would cause drivers and their employers to be slapped with civil penalties for each offense. The driver could be assessed a fine up to $2,750 while the employer could be forced to pay up to $11,000 in civil penalties.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded to the New Hampshire Senator with a letter. He defended his efforts and the work of his department by reinforcing the dangers of fatigued drivers. He wrote that approximately 500 lives were lost last year in an accident involving a fatigued commercial driver.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is very close to issuing a final rule that is critical to keeping hours worked by truck drivers in check and keeping fatigued commercial drivers off U.S. roadways. Since 2009, the government has been tackling the issue of driver fatigue through research, listening sessions and the rulemaking process. To propose an amendment to the final rule would cause confusion and a gray area between Federal and State officials, as well as, members of the trucking industry.

We want to urge all drivers to be well-rested before you take to the roads. Alert drivers can react to the dangers of more congested roadways as 2012 gets underway.

Continue reading "Federal Trucking Standards Help Keep Fatigued Truck Drivers from Causing Georgia Trucking Accidents" »

Highway funding legislation has been extended once again, with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives pushing it back until March 2012. This legislation is referred to as Public Law 109-59. This is the eighth time that this bill has received an extension and Road Safe America isn't happy about it. This highway safety advocate group continuously pushes for safe roadways for motorists nationwide to help prevent fatal car accidents in Atlanta and elsewhere. The extension of this legislation is doing nothing more than putting drivers on U.S. roadways in danger, according to Road Safe America.

Most of the construction projects and maintenance work on our roadways relies heavily on federal tax money. The budget that organizes the money used for these projects is discussed, altered and renewed only every six years. The legislation that's in office right now expired nearly two years ago. There are a few ways that government can raise the money to keep this fund alive, one of the most popular options being to raise the tax on gas. But instead of figuring out new ways to make money to make our roads better our elected officials are throwing in the towel. With each and every extension, our roadways are getting worse and more dangerous.

Our Atlanta trucking accident attorneys understand how vital of a role roadway conditions plays in the safety of motorists. Our elected officials are supposed to ensure the safety of all roadways. If you feel that the condition of a road has contributed to your accident, you're urged to contact an attorney to help you take on the at-fault parties and to help you to gain the compensation you deserve.

In September, a bridge on Interstate 64 that is used to get from Ohio to Louisville and to cross over the Ohio River had to be shut down because of all of the stress fractures that road analysts found in the I-beams. This bridge could be closed for months, and roadway officials predict that many other bridges could be closed following even more inspections. Without the proper funding for projects like this one, these roadways could remain closed.

Road Safe America believes that if this type of financing was as predictable as other parts of government expenses, then these maintenance and rebuilding projects could have been avoided. The safe road advocate group is calling on Congress to do its job.

According to SmartMotorist.com, here are the common causes for roadway accidents:

-Equipment Failure

-Roadway Design

-Poor Roadway Maintenance

-Driver Behavior

More than 90 percent of traffic accidents are a combination of a driver's skill and a combination of one or more of the factors listed above.

Road Safe America and other safe-driving advocates hope that one day a highway funding bill will be able to introduce more safe-driving rules. In addition to roadway design, many commercial vehicles rely on on-board data recorders and speed regulating technology to help reduce the number of fatal accidents. The organization reiterates that it would rather have a complete bill passed than an incomplete bill rushed through legislation, but eight extensions is far too many.

Continue reading "Road Safe America Addresses Unsafe Roadways to Help Prevent Trucking Accidents in Atlanta, Nation" »

There's a system that will help you to determine which motorcoach company may be the safety for you to travel with. This system is a part of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Operational Model and it called the Safety Measurement System (SMS), according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

This system looks into the traveling safety performance of carriers around the county in an attempt to locate dangerous fleets that the Administration feels need an intervention. These interventions are used to help find the problems that a driver or a carrier may have in the ability to prevent commercial bus accidents in Georgia and elsewhere. The program doesn't stop there. It will continue to monitor companies to determine where problems are improving or getting worse. The new program is a replacement for the SafeStat system.

Our Atlanta trucking accident lawyers understand how important it is for the FMCSA to conduct an intervention with companies that may have a less than perfect record. With the governing of the FMCSA, motorcoach companies are more likely to provide safe modes of transportation. The FMCSA receives a bulk of the safety information from various roadside inspections. The Administration also obtains information regarding State-reported crashes and safety-based violations.

Performance is quantified through these Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs):

-Hours-of-Service/Fatigued Driving: This violation includes drivers of commercial motor vehicles who have been cited for driving while fatigued, sick or in non-compliance with the HOS regulations. This citation also includes violations regarding HOS logbooks and other forms of fatigued driver management.

-Unsafe Driving: This violation occurs when a driver operates a commercial vehicle in a careless or dangerous manner. These violations include recklessness, speeding, inattention, improper lane change, etc.

-Controlled Substances/Alcohol. This violation is issued when a driver is operating a company vehicle while under the influence of illegal drugs, alcohol or while misusing over-the-counter or prescription medications.

-Driver Fitness: This violation is issued when a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle. This can result because of medical qualifications, lack of experience of inadequate training. All drivers must be properly trained and licensed.

-Cargo-Related: A company can receive a violation under this category if it neglected to prevent loads from shifting, spilling or dropping.

-Vehicle Maintenance: This is a violation for failing to properly maintain commercial vehicles. This includes lights, brakes, etc.

-Crash Indicator: This violation will be received when a company experiences frequent accidents. This violation includes both the frequency and the severity of all recorded accidents.

If a company is cited with several of these violations, then the FMCSA will step in and conduct an intervention to ensure that the problems are resolved. All of these factors play a role in your safety and should not be taken lightly. All consumers are urged to check the stats and ratings of a company before taking a trip.

Continue reading "New System in Place to Prevent Injury in Georgia from Trucking and Commercial Bus Accidents" »

Officers around the country will be conducting thousands of unannounced safety inspections on motorcoach vehicles, companies and school buses for the kickoff of the national Motorcoach Safety Summit. This Summit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The kickoff celebration will take place in Washington D.C.

This event is used to raise awareness and educate drivers about simple safety steps that can avoid commercial bus accidents in Georgia and elsewhere. We have seen too many fatal accidents resulting from inadequate safety standards enforced by motorcoach companies. The Summit aims to raise the bar of safety to increase the safety of everyone on our roadways.

"This summit is about preventing needless tragedies and saving lives," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Our Atlanta trucking accident attorneys would like to let the public know that this two-week inspection period will start on the 7th of October. During this time, officials will be on the lookout for motorcoach vehicles and corresponding companies that are not holdings its fleet to the highest of safety standards. As an additional part of the safety campaign, the FMCSA will be releasing a new smartphone application that will allow residents to search through all motorcoach companies to view safety record before choosing a company to travel with. This app will be released in November. The program also allows the public to submit any information regarding safety violations to the National Consumer Compliant Database .

During the Summit in D.C., the Motorcoach Safety Summit, a number of safety leaders will be meeting to talk about the Department of Transportation's approach to strengthen the safety standards for these motorcoach companies and vehicles. After the discussion, a panel of experts will discuss the importance and the responsibilities of daily safety precautions for the passengers of these vehicles as well as for the drivers and the vehicles.

The Motorcoach Safety Summit has been an ongoing effort to create stricter standards and ways to enforce the standards to help ensure motorcoach safety. Over the last five years, the FMCSA has doubled the number of inspections on buses and has conducted roughly 4,000 reviews on buses across the country.

In 2005, there were less than 13,000 inspections conducted by the FMCSA. In 2010, there were more than 25,700. From 2005 to 2010, the compliance results of these inspections jumped more than 120 percent.

Even with fines ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 for safety violations, motorcoach accidents continue to plague our roadways. Consumers are urged to research a potential company before agreeing to do business. If you experience an accident with one of these companies, it is critical for you to contact an experienced attorney as there may be multiple parties involved, including drivers, motorcoach companies, vehicle manufacturers and other motorists.

Continue reading "National Motorcoach Safety Summit in D.C. to Help Prevent Injury in Georgia and Elsewhere" »

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data that show 78 percent of commercial truck and bus drivers wore safety belts while operating behind the wheel in 2010, compared to 74 percent in 2009.

According to FMCSA's Safety Belt Usage by Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Survey, the number of commercial drivers that are wearing safety belts has increased by 14 percent since 2007.

The 2010 survey observed 26,830 commercial drivers operating medium- to heavy-duty trucks and buses at 998 roadside sites nationwide. The survey found that safety belt use for commercial drivers and their occupants was higher, 80 percent, in states where law enforcement may stop drivers for not wearing a safety belt, versus 72 percent in states with weaker secondary enforcement belt use laws.

A regional breakdown showed that safety belt use rates for commercial drivers and their occupants were highest in the West, at 82 percent, compared with 79 percent in the South, 73 percent in the Midwest and 69 percent in the Northeast.

The executive summary for the survey appears below.

Continue reading "Seat Belt Usage By Commercial Drivers Increases" »

Access to information and data concerning safety records and actions against motor carriers and drivers has become much easier to obtain.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has launched a new web page that improves free public access to orders and decisions on FMCSA civil penalty and safety rating cases. The web page also provides frequently asked questions intended to help parties understand FMCSA's process for making these legal determinations.

Until now, FMCSA's civil penalty and safety rating cases were available only by going through a cumbersome process at www.regualtions.gov or through paid private-sector legal research websites. Now members of the public can search the full text of hundreds of orders and decisions in cases where motor carriers have contested violations and penalties issued by FMCSA.

The new FMCSA web page includes decisions dated from 2009 to the present that can be sorted by carrier name, case type, docket number and order title.

FMCSA will add new decisions once they become final. In addition, the web page includes links for online Freedom of Information Act requests, as well as links to applicable statutes and regulations and other helpful resources on the functions of FMCSA's Office of Chief Counsel.

This information is now available at:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/offices/cc/about-cc/about.aspx

Bus accidents cause numerous deaths and injuries every year in the Georgia and the United States. This firm recently represented a young man seriously injured when the driver of the bus in which he was riding mistakenly exited I-75 in Atlanta and fell from a bridge. Several young men and the driver were killed and many injured.

Last week U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced several new measures that the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is taking to help ensure that passengers traveling by bus are as safe as possible.

The U.S. DOT will now require more rigorous commercial driver's license testing standards, seek new rules to strengthen passenger carrier and driver compliance with federal safety regulations, and empower consumers to review safety records of bus companies before booking.

Secretary also announced that FMCSA will be teaming up with state law enforcement to conduct unannounced motorcoach inspections at popular travel destinations throughout the spring and summer peak travel season.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a new final rule requiring anyone applying for a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to first obtain a commercial driver’s learner’s permit. The rule also requires all state licensing agencies to use a CDL testing system that meets the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators CDL knowledge and skill standards, and prohibits the use of foreign language interpreters to reduce the potential for testing fraud.

Prior to this new rule, CDL applicants were not required to first obtain a learner's permit and CDL testing systems were not uniform nationwide.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued several new policy proposals designed to raise the bar for passenger carrier safety, including a provision that would give the U.S. DOT greater authority to pursue enforcement action against unsafe "reincarnated" passenger carriers by establishing a federal standard to help determine whether a new carrier is simply a reincarnation of an old, unsafe carrier.

The Department is also proposing to require new motorcoach companies to undergo a full safety audit before receiving U.S. DOT operating authority, revise current law to ensure a driver's CDL can be suspended or revoked for drug- and alcohol-related offenses committed in non-commercial vehicles, and raise the penalty from $2,000 a day to $25,000 for passenger carriers that attempt to operate without USDOT authority.

The USDOT also unveiled a safety checklist that will help consumers review a bus company's safety record, safety rating and USDOT operating authority before buying a ticket or hiring a bus company for group travel.

The checklist is now available online at FMCSA's Passenger Bus Safety Web site. FMCSA is also encouraging consumers to report any unsafe bus company, vehicle or driver to the agency through a toll free hotline 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238).

In addition, FMCSA and its state and local enforcement partners are supporting improved passenger bus safety with a growing number of unannounced bus safety inspections across the country. Starting this week and lasting throughout the summer travel season, the enforcement campaign will target popular destinations such as amusement parks, national parks, casinos, and sports event venues.

Over the past five years, FMCSA has doubled the number of unannounced bus safety inspections and comprehensive safety reviews of the nation's estimated 4,000 passenger bus companies. Roadside safety inspections of motorcoaches jumped from 12,991 in 2005 to 25,703 in 2010, while compliance reviews rose from 457 in 2005 to 1,042 in 2010.

The Administration has taken a number of additional actions over the past several years to improve passenger safety:

• Last December, USDOT launched a new safety measurement system titled Compliance, Safety, Accountability that provides detailed safety data to identify bus companies for safety interventions.

• The Obama Administration is spearheading major improvements to passenger carrier safety through a wide-ranging Motorcoach Safety Action Plan. USDOT has proposed rules that will require buses to have seat belts and electronic on-board recorders to replace easily falsified paper records of driver hours.

• Last year, USDOT adopted a rule to combat distracted driving by banning commercial drivers from texting behind the wheel and proposed a new standard to prohibit hand-held mobile phone use.

All drivers know that our interstate highways are crowded with trucking companies hauling cargo to destinations throughout the United States. The Code of Federal Regulations addresses requirements for proper cargo securement. These regulations are found at Title 49, Chapter 3, Parts 392.9 and 393.1 through 393.136. These cargo securement regulations are quite specific and provide commodities specific regulations for machinery, logs and other products. Obviously, the general requirements include specified performance criteria for the securement system being utilized by the trucking company. The regulations also require a certain number of tie downs to secure the load according to the length of the cargo and the weights involved. Whatever the cargo is, it must be restrained sufficiently to prevent rolling or shifting during transit. Additionally, of course, the regulations require that the drivers of the interstate trucks carrying the cargo must periodically inspect their load to make sure that it has been properly secured.

In virtually any accident involving a falling cargo situation, the Code of Federal Regulations will be implicated because the regulations themselves set forth the specific requirements for the safe and proper securement of cargo being transported in interstate commerce. The improper securement of cargo obviously can result in serious personal injury claims with life altering consequences. Accordingly, in any traffic accident involving falling cargo, it is imperative that an investigation be conducted as soon as possible to evaluate why it is that the cargo fell off the truck. Clearly, if proper securement regulations had been followed, which are designed to prevent all such incidents, the accident would probably have never occurred. Thus, typically, in any case involving falling cargo, there will be a violation of the Code of Federal Regulations, but as is true of any legal case, it is imperative that an investigation be conducted as soon as possible so that the issues can be carefully examined.

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" »

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that all motor carriers systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all motor vehicles subject to their control.

These inspections include inspections by the motor carrier, and driver inspections of their vehicles both before operation and at the end of each work day.

Among the items required to be inspected are brakes, steering, lights, tires, horns, wipers, mirrors, wheels, and emergency equipment.

Our Atlanta based trucking attorneys have seen many tragic collisions occasioned by the lack of properly operating safety equipment on large trucks and buses. In many of these cases we have been able to show that the required inspections were not implemented and/or that the required documents evidencing the inspections were falsified.

While many motor carriers take their safety responsibilities seriously, there are far too many willing to forgo the required safety inspections, putting profits before safety of the motoring public.

Several of the pertinent regulations are below.

Continue reading "Driver Vehicle Inspections" »

Distracted driving is a major cause of collisions involving large trucks on the roadways of the United States. In a small step toward reducing distractions behind the wheel, the Obama administration proposed Tuesday to ban truck drivers from sending text messages while hauling hazardous materials.

The requirements would complement separate rules being finalized by the Transportation Department that prohibit commercial bus and truck drivers from sending text messages on the job and restrict train operators from using cell phones and mobile devices on duty.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is issuing the plans today at a second summit on distracted driving, bringing together government leaders, safety advocates and business groups to discuss ways of keeping drivers' eyes on the road.

LaHood has pushed states to adopt tougher laws against sending text messages from behind the wheel and the federal government has prohibited federal employees from texting while driving on government business.

The proposed rule would close a loophole for hazardous material haulers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does not have authority over most intrastate operators. But the federal agency overseeing hazardous materials covers all haz-mat truck drivers, so the rules would ensure that those operators would be barred from texting and using mobile devices.

The summit will highlight efforts by corporations to prevent employees from using mobile devices while driving on company business. According to a statement issued in advance of the summit, nearly 1,600 U.S. companies and organizations have adopted policies related to distracted driving, covering about 10.5 million workers.

Another 550 organizations, covering an additional 1.5 million workers, have pledged to create anti-distracted driving policies for their employees within the next year.

Nearly 5,500 people were killed in 2009 in distracted driving crashes, a 6 percent decline from the number killed in 2008. Safety advocates, however, contend that the numbers may not reflect the true nature of the distraction problem because many police reports don't document whether distraction was a factor in crashes.

Thirty states, including Georgia, and the District of Columbia prohibit drivers from texting behind the wheel; eight states have passed laws barring drivers from using handheld cell phones.

Georgia injury lawyers know well the serious injuries and wrongful deaths people suffer as a result of motor vehicle accidents; however, perhaps the most catastrophic accident is one involving tractor trailers. Some of the reasons for trucking accidents being such horrible accidents are plain to see. The size and weight of the trucks and cargo have the capacity to do tremendous harm if they are driven recklessly, negligently or under dangerous conditions. These accidents happen for a variety of reasons: Unbalanced or shifting loads, brake or steering failures due to improper maintenance, and collision avoidance are just a few plausible scenarios. But all too often the operator of the truck has exercised poor judgment because of fatigue and a desire to push ahead a few extra miles before taking a legally required break.

Because of a persistent push for changes to federal hours-of-service (HOS) rules for long-haul truckers by advocacy groups significant progress for highway safety may finally come about. Under a new rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the United States government agency responsible for regulating interstate trucking the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers will be limited to driving only 11 hours and working no more than 14 hours each day. The new federal rule requires all truck drivers to spend at least 10 hours resting between shifts before being allowed back on the road. Drivers also cannot operate a truck if they have worked more than 60 hours in a given week. Under the new rules , drivers that rest for at least 34 hours can also reset their weekly work schedule.

Unfortunately despite these new rules tractor-trailer accidents will still cause tragedies on Georgia highways and roads. Serious injury victims and families of fatal truck accidents should seek timely advice about their legal options from attorneys who are experienced in truck accident litigation.

Continue reading "New Hours Of Service Rules Pending In Washington For Truckers" »

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 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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

Fatigued drivers are a common cause of truck crashes. In an effort to reduce the injuries and deaths caused by drivers operating large trucks while fatigued, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issues hours-of –service regulations governing the time periods during which driver’s may operate large trucks.

In January 2004, the FMCSA implemented new hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers, increasing the required daily off-duty period but also increasing daily and weekly allowable driving times. Under the current rules, interstate commercial truck drivers are not allowed to drive more than 11 hours or drive after 14 hours since starting a duty shift until they take a 10-hour break.

Drivers cannot drive after accruing 60 work hours during a 7-day period or 70 work hours during an 8-day period, but a "restart" provision allows truckers to get back behind the wheel after 34 hours off duty. Using this provision, a driver may log up to 77 hours in 7 days or 88 hours in 8 days.

Further modifications to the work rules took effect Oct. 1, 2005. These revisions provide that drivers who use sleeper berths in their trucks may split the required minimum 10-hour daily off-duty period into a period of at least 8 hours in the sleeper berth and a period of at least 2 hours in the sleeper berth or off duty. Short-haul truckers may extend their work day twice a week, and these drivers are exempt from a requirement to carry a logbook of their hours of work.

Federal courts overturned the rules in 2004 and again in 2007. In October 2009, the FMCSA reached a court settlement with safety groups. Under the terms of the deal, the FMCSA agreed to review and reconsider the rule and to publish a final rule by July 2011.

Even with the regulations, studies show that the rate of accidents involving fatigued drivers has not significantly declined. A study by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety based upon surveys of long-distance truck drivers in two states (Pennsylvania and Oregon), found drivers are spending more hours behind the wheel since the work rules changed in January 2004. They also report more instances of falling asleep at the wheel.

In Pennsylvania, 19 percent of truck drivers admitted to dozing at the wheel at least once during the past month in 2005, up from 13 percent in 2003, under the old rule. The proportions in Oregon were 21 percent in 2005 compared with 12 percent in 2003.

Current regulations allow truck drivers to record their hours in written logbooks that are reviewed by inspectors. Studies of long-distance truck drivers and our own experience has shown that work rules commonly are violated.

About a third of drivers interviewed by the Institute in 2003, 2004, and 2005 admitted to often or sometimes omitting hours from their log books. Some truck drivers refer to logbooks as "comic books" because they are so easily falsified.

Our experience in these cases has shown that it is common for truck drivers to carry two sets of log books – one correct and the other falsified to show driving within the regulations in case the driver is inspected or involved in a collision.

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating a tractor-trailer accident that occurred on Interstate 85 in Jackson County last Wednesday morning. Although the cause of the accident has not been announced, officials found a vehicle lodged under the rear of the tractor-trailer.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented clients in all types of tractor-trailer trucking cases, including what have been called “under-ride” cases. These accidents occur for a variety of reasons. In some of the cases we have seen, the tractor-trailer is not properly illuminated with working lights and required reflective tape and in some of the cases, the trailer had defective or missing safety equipment.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) address all of these issues, including requiring rear guards on the trailers. Specifically, the regulations require that every trailer must have a rear impact guard to protect against a vehicle going under the trailer during a rear impact collision with the except of pole trailers, pulpwood trailers, low chassis vehicles, special purpose vehicles and wheels back vehicles. The FMCSR specifies the required dimensions of rear guards and requires them to be substantially constructed and attached by bolts, welding, or other comparable means. If it breaks in a rear-end collision the carrier can be held liable for improper welding and attachment of the guard. As with any case, it is important to document the condition of the tractor-trailer with photographs and to preserve any physical evidence that is available, including the rear guard.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that all trucking companies “systematically inspect, repair and maintain, or cause to be systematically inspected, repaired, or maintained, all motor vehicles subject to its control.” Obviously, this safety regulation is designed to insure that all trucking companies maintain their vehicles in good working order. Carriers must maintain repair and inspection reports, (which have to be filed each day a vehicle is driven), which records must also evidence periodic inspections of each vehicle owned by the motor carrier. A failure of a trucking company to fulfill its repair and maintenance obligations can be an independent basis of liability against the trucking company. Some courts have held that if a motor carrier does not maintain its vehicles in good working order and as a result of such a breach an accident occurs that this can also be the basis of punitive damages against the motor carrier. Essentially, the courts have recognized that putting an unsafe vehicle on the road is a willful and wanton disregard of public safety which justifies punitive damages.

In any case involving a tractor-trailer accident, counsel should subpoena and obtain from the trucking company all of its inspection, maintenance and repair records for the vehicle involved to make sure that the carrier fulfilled its duties under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

Any driver of any vehicle, much less trucks, knows that when the weather is bad extra precaution must be taken in the operation of the vehicle. This is especially true for large tractor-trailer trucks that are much heavier in weight and therefore more difficult to slow down. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that drivers of motor carriers use “extreme caution” in the operation of trucks during hazardous conditions such as those caused by snow, rain or any other weather event which adversely affects visibility or traction. Speed must be reduced when such conditions exist.

Most state Commercial Driver Licenses Manuals require that truck drivers slow down at least by one-third (⅓) of the posted speed limit in order to insure the safe operation of their heavy tractor-trailer rigs. Because it takes longer to stop and is harder to do so without skidding or losing control if it is raining or snowing, the driver must slow down from 55 to 35, as an example, on any wet road. On packed snow most commercial drivers’ manuals require that speed be reduced by half (½).

The motor carrier safety regulations are very important in helping to establish negligence of a truck driver who is speeding during adverse weather conditions. Even if a truck driver is traveling within the posted speed limit, he may still be in violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations because traveling at 55 miles per hour, which may be the posted speed limit in any particular area, may still be too fast for conditions and under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations is too fast for conditions when the weather is adverse.

In any case involving adverse weather conditions, counsel should investigate very carefully whether excessive speed was involved and/or whether the driver and carrier used “extreme caution” for the safety of the motoring public. If not, a proven violation of these safety regulations can help to establish liability against the trucking company and its driver.

Yesterday, a Georgia tractor-trailer accident shut down Interstate 85 north near Hamilton Mill Road in North Atlanta. The tractor-trailer, which appeared to be loaded with several steel beams, overturned and spilled its load all over the roadway. Fortunately, no injuries were reported and the reason for the crash has not been reported. Given the size of the truck, the size and weight of the cargo, and the fact that the crash occurred in the middle of an Interstate highway, this accident could have resulted in the wrongful death or serious injury of numerous people.

As Georgia injury lawyers who have handled numerous tractor-trailer accident cases over the span of 40 years, we have seen similar accidents which were caused by the load shifting during transit. Often the load was not properly secured. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations clearly outline the carriers responsibilities for proper loading of a truck. Commercial vehicles must be loaded in such a manner as to prevent its cargo from leaking, spilling, blowing or falling from the vehicle. The cargo must be immobilized or secured to prevent shifting to the extent that the vehicle’s stability or maneuverability is affected. There are also specific regulations that deal with specific cargo such as logs, boulders, concrete pipes, metal coils, etc. The driver of a commercial vehicle is charged with the responsibility of making sure that the truck is loaded in compliance with federal law. A driver cannot operate a commercial vehicle unless (1) the load is properly distributed and adequately secured, (2) the means of fastening the cargo is secured, and (3) the cargo does not obscure the drivers view or interfere with the movement of his arms or legs. The Regulations not only require that the driver of a commercial vehicle check the load before beginning the drive but also requires that he must examine the load again within the first 50 miles after beginning a trip and make any adjustments that are necessary to secure it. In addition, the driver must re-examine the load and the devices securing the load when he makes a change of his duty status, after the vehicle has been driven for three(3) hours or after the vehicle has been driven 150 miles, whichever comes first.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations set out very strict requirements for pre-employment investigation of truck drivers. Any motor carrier is required to obtain information about the prospective driver/employee’s driving record and his/her employment history for the preceding three (3) years. The driver/applicant must provide a list of employers for the prior three (3) years and must also provide a list by name and address of all employers for the previous ten (10) years for whom the applicant operated a commercial motor vehicle. Once obtaining this information, the motor carrier is required to investigate the same.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that the trucking company inquire into the applicant’s driving record for the prior three (3) years in every state in which he/she held a license and investigate the driver’s employment record for the preceding three (3) years as well. This investigation must take place within thirty (30) days of the date of that a driver’s employment begins. As with any other violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a failure to conduct this pre-employment investigation can be an independent basis for liability against the trucking company and potentially a basis for punitive damages as well.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide certain minimum physical qualifications necessary to drive most trucks. These provisions require that drivers have adequate vision in both eyes, adequate hearing, be free from psychiatric disorders, epilepsy, high blood pressure, insulin dependent diabetes and certain heart conditions. All drivers must have adequate use of his or her extremities and have no current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism.

Any trucking company that uses a driver who fails to meet the physical qualifications of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations can be liable to the innocent victim of the negligence of such a driver. Again, if a trucking company negligently hires an unqualified driver and in the process violates Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations regarding minimum physical qualifications, and it can be established thereby that the driver was not qualified to drive a truck, liability can be established for the violation of the Motor Carrier Safety Regulation in and of itself as both the driver and the trucking company have a responsibility to conform to these minimum requirements.

Our firm has handled several case where the driver was not qualified to drive for physical reasons. Obviously, we discovered this after the fact of an accident involving one of our clients. Unqualified drivers should not be allowed to operate commercial tractor trailer rigs--plain and simple. Such drivers are dangerous. Thus, in any case involving a serious accisent, the driver's qualifications should be reviewed. As an example, in one case we handled, the driver's feet were numb from a prior electrical accident! And yet, he was allowed to drive. Needless to say, he never should have done so and both he and his carrier were required to pay our client above actual damages because of such negligence.

To be qualified to drive a tractor-trailer in interstate commerce, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that an individual must meet the followed specified separate criteria: The driver:

1. Must be at least 21-years old;
2. Must be able to read and speak English;
3. By reason of experience and/or training, must be able to safely operate a vehicle;
4. Must be physically qualified to drive a commercial vehicle in accordance with the physical qualifications and examinations required;
5. Must have a commercially valid motor vehicle license issued by only one state;
6. Have prepared and furnished the hiring motor carrier a list of prior violations;
7. Is not disqualified under the rules;
8. Has successfully completed a driver’s road test and has been issued a certificate or has presented an operator’s license or certificate of road test which the motor carrier that employee’s has accepted as equivalent to a road test.

An individual driver who fails to meet any of these criteria subjects both himself and his employer to liability which may include a claim for punitive damages. In short, if a motor carrier driver is not qualified and/or competent as set forth herein, then he or she has no right to operate a tractor-trailer rig in interstate commerce and liability for a collision by an unqualified driver can be established on this basis alone.

Because these criteria for minimum qualifications and competence are so important to minimum federal safety standards, they shall be discussed separately in future blogs. If a trucking company fails to determine whether a driver is qualified to drive, fails to give a driving test or obtain an adequate employment history of prior traffic violations and/or fails to conduct pre-employment screening and otherwise fails to observe all of the safety regulations applicable to interstate trucking companies, then in that event, the trucking company can be held not only for any damages caused by the unqualified driver but also can be held liable for punitive damages for a willful violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. See Smith v. Tommy Roberts Trucking Company, 209 Ga. App. 826 435 S.E. 2d 54 (1993).

As all trial lawyers who practice in this arena know, that the central purpose of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) is to create uniform standards of travel on our interstate highways for large tractor-trailer trucks and to promote their safe operation by helping to prevent collisions. There are many safety regulations in the FMCSR that help to fulfill these uniform standards and promote safety. Regrettably, many thousands of accidents occur each and every year in this country. Typically, in any given year, over 100,000 people are injured and 5,000 people killed in tractor-trailer collisions. While the purpose of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations was designed to prevent these incidents from occurring, it cannot be seriously debated that the numbers quoted would be substantially higher without their existence.

The obligations and responsibilities set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations are legally shared by both truck drivers and their employers. 49 C.F.R. § 390.11 provides that when “a duty is prescribed for a driver or a prohibition is imposed upon the driver, it shall be the duty of the motor carrier to require observance of such duty or prohibition.” Thus, motor carriers have an obligation to instruct their drivers regarding all applicable rules and regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Failure to properly train drivers can be an independent basis of liability against a trucking company. Moreover, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations embrace the principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Indeed, the regulations require that all motor carrier employees and drivers shall be knowledgeable of and comply with the same. Because a violation of the provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations can establish negligence in and of itself, it is important in any trucking case that each and every applicable safety regulation be reviewed to make sure that the truck driver and/or motor carrier employer observed the applicable regulations (whether they be mechanical inspections, driver training, alcohol testing and the like) that were designed to prevent the collision from occurring in the first place. To the extent that counsel can establish that safety regulations were ignored and/or violated, then in that event, liability can be established and damages obtained for the innocent victim of such violations.