Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

A bill that would require underride guards for all commercial trucks and tractor trailers has been introduced for the third time in Congress.  Trucking safety advocates have long supported the bill that would help prevent the kind of devastating accidents that result in smaller vehicles ending up under 18-wheelers.

Senators Marco Rubio and Kirsten Gillibrand have reintroduced the Stop Underrides Act for the third time. The bill would require that all new tractor trailers and 18- wheelers be equipped with underride protection guards, on the sides as well as the front. In many truck accidents, the smaller vehicle involved in the collision may slide or be pushed under the truck. These underride protection guards would prevent a small vehicle from sliding under the truck during an accident.  These kinds of accidents are not uncommon and are very likely to end in serious injuries, like decapitations, if not fatalities.  At the very least, the occupants of the small vehicle could suffer devastating head injuries.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims that these accidents are extremely common.  According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, close to 80% of truck accident deaths involve situations in which the smaller vehicle slid under the truck. These kinds of accidents need not occur at high speeds to be devastating. Even at moderate speeds, the underride can slice through the passenger cabin of the smaller vehicle involved in the accident, possibly decapitating heads.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking to relax current federal regulations that govern the amount of time commercial truck drivers can be on the road without taking a rest break.  This could lead to an increase of fatigued truck drivers on the nation’s highways which, in turn, could result in more deadly trucking accidents.

Current regulations limit the drive time of long-haul commercial truck drivers to 11 hours of a 14-hour on-duty day.  A driver must then take 10 consecutive hours off before the clock can start again, and if they are going to be driving for more than 8 hours, they must take a rest break of a minimum of 30 minutes before they can drive again.  Essentially a driver cannot exceed 70 hours of driving in eight days. This is known as the 70-hour rule.

Even with such drive time regulations for commercial truck drivers, serious accidents involving fatigued truck drivers are all too common.  In 2017, there were 4,657 fatal truck crashes, a 10% increase from the prior year.  A study by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) found that a significant percent of fatal accidents involving truck drivers was caused by fatigue.  In fact, sleep deprivation and fatigue has been noted to be one of the most frequent causes of fatal large truck accidents.   The NTSB has recognized that truck driver fatigue is a “pervasive problem” and has declared reducing fatigue-related accidents as one of its “most wanted” safety improvements of 2019-2020.

The North Georgia area, including metro Atlanta, has no shortage of highways running through its landscape.  And whenever there are highways, there are usually multiple tractor trailers travelling on them at any given time.  Most of us, while driving a motor vehicle, have had to share the roads with a massive tractor trailer, which can lead to a harrowing and dangerous experience.  And we’ve all seen the devastating results an accident with a tractor trailer can have on passenger vehicle and its occupants.

Now, trucking groups are lobbying lawmakers in the nation’s capital to allow for even larger and heavier trucks on our highways. The push for allowing twin 33-foot trailers, or Double 33’s, continues.  If this passes, this means that trailers as long as an 8-story building could be sharing the roads with passenger cars, cyclists and pedestrians.  That undoubtedly is a dangerous idea, and one that should be strongly opposed by trucking safety advocates.

One of the truck lobbying groups, Americans for Modern Transportation, argue that larger trucks that can carry heavier freights are absolutely necessary because of the increased demand posed by companies like Amazon. A growing demand for online deliveries has made it necessary to revise old rules, and increase the weight limits on trucks operating on our highways. Unfortunately, the focus of these groups are more economic savings rather than road safety.

Truck drivers have a significantly higher risk of developing diabetes.  This can make operating such a massive vehicle even more dangerous for not only the driver, but for other drivers on the road as well.   In Georgia and the Atlanta area, where the interstates are usually packed with tractor-trailers, truck drivers driving with unmanaged diabetes can increase the risks of accidents with other drivers.

According to recent studies, truck drivers have a risk of developing diabetes that is as much as 50 percent higher than the general population.  This is due in part to the long hours truck drivers are required to log, inconsistent eating schedules, lack of regular exercise and oftentimes unhealthy food choices.

Management of diabetes symptoms can be very difficult when you are a trucker. For one thing, diabetes is a difficult disease to live with, and there is no complete cure for the condition. The only way to ensure that you continue to live a happy and healthy life with diabetes is to manage the symptoms consistently.   However, truck drivers typically drive long hours without a break. Working such long hours can mean that a truck driver is less likely to take his medication on time every day. Failure to take medications on time can cause a catastrophic increase in sugar levels, making driving an extremely hazardous activity. In addition, the food options that are typically available to a truck driver often include greasy foods or foods that are high in sugar making management of symptoms even harder.