Truck drivers and motor carriers who violated drug and alcohol requirements to be penalized

Last month the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented a national drug and alcohol strike force.  The purpose of the strike force was to identify motor carriers who had failed to follow drug and alcohol testing requirements on their drivers.

Officials hoped to penalize motor carriers that have tried to evade federal regulations on drug and alcohol testing and reporting requirements.  They also hoped to remove from the road commercial bus and truck drivers who violated drug and alcohol rules but were still driving.

FMCSA safety investigators conducted their research by examining the alcohol safety records of commercial bus and truck drivers employed by interstate trucking companies, bus companies, school bus drivers, hazardous material transporters and long-haul freight companies.

As a result of this research, the FMCSA announced that they found 77 commercial drivers who failed to adhere to federal drug and alcohol regulations.  These drivers may face civil penalties, fines and have lost their commercial driving licenses.

In addition, the strike force has found 84 motor carriers who will face enforcement action because they either used a driver who tested positive for drugs or alcohol or they failed to institute a drug and alcohol testing program.

The FMCSA strike force is part of an overall transportation safety crackdown championed by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood who stated that “Violators of our drug and alcohol policies have no business driving a commercial vehicle. Programs like the drug and alcohol strike force are helping remove the most dangerous offenders from our roadways."

The economic cost of large truck crashes

Motor vehicle accidents – especially serious ones involving major injuries or fatalities – can be very costly not only in terms of human lives but costly for insurers, states, and local governments.  A great deal of research money is spent on trying to understand the economic impact that accidents have in the United States.

One report prepared for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) by the Pacific Institute attempted to analyze the cost of medium to large truck accidents.  The report is a few years old, but the data is interesting.

Researchers tried to account for all costs involved in each tractor trailer crash, however their cost estimates excluded difficult to measure variables like mental health care costs for crash victims, roadside repair costs, cargo delays, lost earnings for those caring for injured family members and lost schoolwork for injured students.

• Average cost for property damage only crashes: $15,114
• Average cost per non-fatal injury crash: $195,258
• Average cost per fatal truck injury crash: $3,604,518
• Average cost for straight truck crash (no trailer): $56,296
• Average cost for truck with two or three trailers: $289,549

These estimated costs took into consideration medical costs, emergency service costs, costs for property damage, lost productivity, and the estimated value of victim and family members’ pain and suffering and lost quality of life.

Will tractor trailer safety be compromised to save Virginia transportation budget dollars?

Question: if Virginia DOT officials believe that the state is deficient in providing adequate truck parking, what should they do next?

Answer: Close 61% of Virginia’s rest areas.

Are you doing a double-take?  Yes, it’s true.  About a week after stating that Virginia does not have enough truck parking lawmakers have decided to shut down 25 of the state’s 41 rest stops.  The move is being blamed on – surprise – the transportation budget shortfall.

Unfortunately for motorists, closing so many rest stops could result in more accidents.  After all, car and truck drivers both use Virginia rest stops along major highways to take a break when they find themselves fatigued after a long drive.  Without these convenient places to stop, drivers may be tempted to push themselves beyond their limits.

Tractor trailer drivers could really feel the pinch.  It is already difficult for truckers to find a parking spot once the sun goes down, and it is easy exceed the 2 hour limit at rest areas and be asked to move on by police.  Major truck stops tend to fill up quickly, making rest areas a stop of last resort for many truckers.

The majority of the rest stops to be closed are in the central part of Virginia, a move that is expected to save the state $12 million annually.  However, some wonder if lawmakers are being “penny wise and pound foolish” in potentially compromising highways safety to save a few dollars – all at the expense of truck drivers and motorists.

Distracted Tractor-Trailer Driver Takes Two Lives

A horrific tractor-trailer accident on Interstate-81 near Harrisonburg, Virginia claimed the lives of two people on February 26, 2008.  The accident happened when a southbound tractor-trailer crossed the median barrier into the northbound lane, and slammed into an Enterprise rental van.  Both occupants of the van were killed.

What was the cause of this terrible accident?  Driver distraction.  That’s right, the truck driver wasn’t paying attention, and because of this he took two lives.  He made it out with minor injuries, which is often what happens in tractor-trailer accidents.  According to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, in two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles and large trucks, 98 percent of the fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicle.

The driver was charged with reckless driving, and at this time the police are not planning to file any additional charges.

A study last year by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) found that 87% of tractor-trailers get into an accident because of a problem with the driver, i.e. fatigue, inattention, speeding.  With so many accidents caused by poor driving, more needs to be done to reduce the number of accidents and deaths caused each year by tractor-trailer accidents.

For more information and statistics, please see our article on tractor-trailer facts.  If you are looking for an attorney to help you with your tractor-trailer accident, please contact us.  You can also visit our library to find out what makes tractor-trailer accident litigation unique.

Is your life at risk from a medically unfit driver?

It is frightening but true.  According to recent investigations and a congressional inquiry, there are numerous bus and truck drivers out on American roads right now, driving with serious medical conditions.  Some of these drivers are even accepting money from federal government disability programs from their ailments, which supposedly are bad enough that they cannot work.  Yet, work they do, driving on the same roads that you and your family travel every day.

If you’re surprised to hear this, then you’ll be even more shocked to find out that this has been a known and documented problem for nearly a decade.  A tragic deadly bus crash caused by a medically unfit driver in 1999 resulted in a number of recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) directed at the government agency that oversees truck and bus drivers.

However this agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has been dragging its feet in implementing the proposed regulations.  In the meantime, drivers who should not be on the road continue to cause tragic bus and truck accidents and doctors say that the medical certificates they need to work are so easy to obtain illegally that nobody pays much attention any more.

Is this the best we can do?  Is this all the regard we have for human life?  If the federal government can’t be relied on to protect innocent members of the traveling public and if drivers themselves can’t be relied on to stay off the road if they’re unfit to drive – what is the average person to do?  You can read more about this problem in our library article, “Are Medically Unfit Bus and Truck Drivers Endangering Your Life?” and learn more about tractor trailer accidents in our article, “The Deadly Facts about Tractor Trailer Accidents”.

Causes of Large Truck Crashes

Large truck crashes can lead to catastrophic injuries, even death.  With all of the trucks on the road, accidents are bound to happen.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study regarding the causes of large truck crashes. Researchers examined 963 crashes involving 1,123 large trucks and 959 passenger vehicles that occurred between April 2001 and December 2003.  This representative sample was taken from the 120,000 truck crashes that took place during that timeframe.  Most of the large trucks studied in the sample were tractors pulling a single semi-trailer and a small percentage of these trucks were hauling hazardous materials.

Based on the study, there were numerous factors that contributed to large truck accidents.  Researchers documented hundreds of associated factors involved in the truck accidents.  Some of the top factors that contributed to truck crashes included brake problems, traffic flow interruptions, prescription drug use, traveling too fast for conditions, unfamiliarity with the roads, roadway problems, traffic control devices, over-the-counter drug use, inadequate surveillance and driver fatigue.

Critical events were also studied, which are defined as actions or events that made the accident unavoidable.  Three types of critical events were identified including running out of travel lane, loss of vehicle control and rear end collision with another vehicle in the truck’s lane.

Other studies have been done, which revealed that driver fatigue was a major contributing factor in truck crashes.  A tired truck driver is a hazard to the other vehicles on the road and has the potential to cause a serious truck accident.  Drivers frequently drive for several hours without rest, as they try to meet strict deadlines.

If you or a family member has been injured in a tractor trailer accident, you need to seek legal advice immediately.  Contact the experienced Virginia truck accident attorneys at Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas, LLP at (800) 741-1012 for Culpeper or (888) 907-2631 for Warrenton today.

The article, Study Examines Causes of Large Truck Accidents, has more information on this subject.