Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says it will consider revising the current hours of service rule that lets large truck drivers operate their vehicles for 11 hours/day. Their decision to reconsider the rule is part of a settlement reached with Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Public Citizen, and the Truck Safety Coalition.

The groups had filed a lawsuit after the Bush Administration expanded the hours of service rule from 10-hours to 11-hours in December 2008. The revised rule let truckers operate their vehicles for 17 more hours even though there is ample evidence that driving longer hours can cause more traffic deaths and his bad for truck drivers’ health.

Per the settlement, the FMCSA has nine months to start the rulemaking process. A new rule must be published within 21 months.

The American Trucking Association is disputing claims that there is anything wrong with the current hours of service rule.

Chicago Truck Accidents
Plenty of studies reveal that driving any motor vehicle while exhausted can lead to catastrophic Illinois truck crashes, car accidents, motorcycle collisions, pedestrian accidents, and bus crashes. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that not only should a driver be well-rested before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, but also he or she should take periodic brakes every 100 mi or 2 hrs.

With their rigorous schedules and tight delivery deadlines, it is no wonder that truck drivers end up spending hours a day behind the wheel. When sleep apnea, fatigue, drowsy driving, or exhaustion dulls a trucker’s senses, slows reflexes, and impairs the ability to stay alert and pay attention to the road or surround vehicles, tragic Chicago truck crashes can happen.

Commercial driver agency to reconsider hours rule, Business Insurance, October 29, 2009

US DOT to revise hours of service rules, Today's Trucking, October 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
FMCSA

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Truck Safety Coalition

Public Citizen

Continue reading "FMCSA Will Reconsider Hours of Service Rule for Truck Drivers" »

The National Transportation Safety Board is suggesting to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that it put together a program to identify commercial truckers who are at high risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. The NTSB is recommending that the FMCSA withhold medical certification until a worker proves that he or she has been medically examined and either doesn’t have OSA or is getting treatment for the disorder.

Sleep apnea has been cited as a factor in a number of US trucking accidents. In one case, a tractor-trailer crashed into a police car, killing the officer in the vehicle, and then drove across a median, injuring another driver. The trucker was suffering from sleep apnea.

According to a recent study, 12 – 17% of drivers do suffer from “significant” obstructive sleep apnea. Some members of the trucking industry, however, dispute that there is a link between OSA and truck crashes.

Regardless, drowsy driving (whether the motorist is suffering from a sleeping disorder or didn’t get enough sleep or is just tired after a long day of work) is known to cause catastrophic truck collisions and other deadly motor vehicle accidents. If a person is suffering from sleep apnea, managing to stay awake while driving can be tough—especially when the driver is driving long distances for hours at a time. A trucker who is driving a tractor-trailer, 18-wheeler truck, or another kind of large truck while his or her mind is foggy or who has fallen asleep is a danger to pedestrians and the occupants of other vehicles.

About 18 million people in the US suffer from OSA. According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, because many investigators are not properly trained to identify the role sleepiness plays in causing a traffic crash, this contributing factor can get overlooked.

Getting behind the wheel of any motor vehicle when you are drunk, drowsy, or distracted is careless conduct. The negligent trucker, car driver, motorcyclist or bus driver can be held liable for Chicago injury or wrongful death.

Sleep apnea program should be law: US safety board, Today's Trucking, October 22, 2009

Study Says Number of Truck Accidents Might Go Down If Truckers Were Tested for Sleep Apnea, ChicagoTruckAccidentLawyerBlog, March 29, 2009

Sleep Apnea and Driving, American Sleep Apnea Association

Related Web Resources:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea

National Transportation Safety Board

Continue reading "Preventing Truck Accidents: NTSB Wants FMCSA to Put in Place Program to Treat Truckers with Sleep Apnea" »

On August 14, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill, the Uniform Speed Limit, into law that will increase the speed limit for large trucks on interstate highways from 55 mph to 65 mph. The new law goes into effect beginning January 1, 2010.

Many truckers in Illinois are reportedly greeting this new law with enthusiasm. Glen Bernis of Sisbro Trucking says that the new mph speed limit is a positive move forward from a safety standpoint because people riding in cars won’t get stuck behind semi-trucks now that both cars and large trucks will have to adhere to the same speed limit. George Billows, of the Illinois Trucking Association, echoed the sentiment that a single speed is safer than having split speed limits.

The new trucking speed limit will give truck drivers the opportunity to make more money. It will also allow them to drive more miles each day. Up until now, many truck drivers have avoided driving through Illinois or have opted to take the shortest route possible.

Exempt from this new law are Cook County and the five collar counties, DuPage County, Will County, Kane County, Lake County, and McHenry County.

While some parties are happy about the new speed limit, highway safety advocates are concerned about whether more injuries and deaths will result now that large trucks are legally allowed to go at a faster speed. The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation would have preferred keeping a separate, lower speed limit for trucks.

AAA says another 115 Illinois traffic deaths a year are likely to result because of the new speed limit. According to Beth Mosher, an AAA spokesperson, the faster the speed of the truck, the longer it takes for the vehicle to stop. This increases the chances of an Illinois truck accident occurring.

If you were injured in a Chicago truck accident and you believe that the driver of the semi-truck, garbage truck, 18-wheeler truck, tractor-trailer, or another large truck was negligent or careless, you should speak with a Chicago truck crash lawyer immediately.

Truckers look forward to speed limit rising to 65, Whig.com, August 21, 2009

Take notice: truckers will be hitting the gas, SouthtownStar, August 25, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Maximum Posted Speed Limits

House Bill 3956, Illinois General Assembly

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants tractor-trailer drivers to abide by tougher braking standards. Under the new rules, a tractor-trailer moving at 60mph will have to fully stop in 250 feet when braking rather than in 355 feet.

The NHTSA says the new regulation should save 227 lives and prevent 300 serious injuries every year. It will also hopefully reduce property damage by more than $169 million annually.

Any help from the government to decrease the number of Chicago truck accidents that happen is positive progress. Large trucks can cause catastrophic injuries during an Illinois truck crash, with brake failure and human error as two of the leading causes of trucker-related collisions.

While truckers have a large vehicle weighing thousands of pounds protecting them from the impact of colliding with a smaller vehicle, the occupants of the autos involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer are not as fortunate.

An experienced Chicago, Illinois truck accident law firm will know what questions to ask when proving liability in a truck crash. They should also have access to a team of experts, such as accident reconstruction experts and medical professionals that understand the extend of your injuries and how much time it will take and how much money it will cost for you to recover, that can help you obtain the maximum recovery possible for your trucking injuries.

Trucking companies are known for sending someone to the Chicago traffic crash site as soon as possible to try persuading you to settle before you even know what’s happened to you.

Tough New Braking Rules For Large Trucks Will Save Hundreds of Lives Annually, NHTSA, July 24, 2009

Trucking Accidents Caused by Brake and Tire Failure, NOLO

Related Web Resource:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Continue reading "Will New Tractor-Trailer Brake Laws Decrease the Number of Chicago Truck Accidents? " »

Truck safety advocates don’t want tractor-trailers to be allowed to carry heavier loads on highways. This could happen if a new transportation bill currently making its way through the US Congress is approved. While at a news conference earlier this month, Joan Claybrook of the Truck Safety Coalition called this a “public health crisis.”

The group is among a number of safety advocates that are fighting the bill and want Congress to enact H.R. 1617 and S.779, a bi-partisan effort that would freeze the current tractor-trailer limits to a weight maximum of 80,000 pounds and a length maximum of 53-feet. The Truck Safety Coalition has also launched the Web site StopBiggerTrucks.org.

However, the Coalition for Transportation Productivity, an industry group, thinks adding an axle to big rig trucks would make it safer for these large trucks to carry heavier loads because the weight would be more evenly distributed. An additional axle would give big rigs 22 wheels. They currently have 18 wheels. As it stands, not allowing trucks to carry bigger loads could result in more trucks having to get onto roads to meet the increasing cargo demand.

More 2007 Truck Accident Statistics:

• 4,808 truck accident fatalities
• 154 were Illinois truck accident deaths
• 83,908 truck accident injuries
• 802 truck drivers killed on the job
• There are approximately 3.5 million American truck drivers
• Double-trailers trucks are 32% more likely than single-trailer trucks to be involved in deadly traffic accidents; they are also 200% more likely to be involved in accidents on interstate highways
• At least 10% of trucks that are on US roads are illegally overweight
• Trucks that are too heavy are a major cause of damages to bridges and highways

Safety advocates fight push for bigger truck loads, CNN, May 4, 2009

Families of truck crash victims to turn “Sorrow to Strength” by launching
StopBiggerTrucks.org, TruckSafety,org, May 4, 4009

Related Web Resources:
StopBiggerTrucks.Org

Truck Safety Coalition

Coalition for Transportation Productivity

Continue reading "Illinois Truck Accidents: Truck Safety Coalition Speaks Out Against Heavier Loads" »

Now that both the Illinois House and the Senate have approved legislation that would increase the semi-truck speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstates, it will be up to Governor Pat Quinn to decide whether to approve or veto the plan. This is not the first time legislation such as this has reached an Illinois Governor’s desk. Former Governor Rod Blagojevich vetoed legislation calling for the same mph maximum on three occasions because of what he said were safety concerns that could arise if large trucks were allowed to travel at the faster speed.

Preventing Illinois Truck Accidents
The question of whether or not it is safer or more dangerous to let trucks drive faster can result in different answers—depending on who you ask. Trucks that move at a fast pace tend to get their jobs done faster, which means that these vehicles don't have to spend as much time on the roads—possibly decreasing the chances of becoming involved in a large truck accident. Then again, the faster a truck goes, the more gas it spends, and its higher speed could also increase the chances the driver could become involved in a semi-truck accident. After all, excess speeding is often cited as a leading cause of large truck crashes.

A 2007 Forbes article cites The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as reporting that excess speed was the “critical precrash event” in 18% of all large truck crashes that were analyzed for a large truck causation study. A high-risk study conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute found that among truck drivers convicted of speeding at least 15mph above the legal speed limit, 56% of these truckers ended up being involved in a large truck accident the following year.

In the recent years, the ATA had recommended to the FMCSA that engine governors be installed in large trucks to make sure that trucks don’t go over a 68 mph speed limit. The ATA has said this could decrease truck accident deaths by up to 10%.

Semis going 65? It's up to Gov. Quinn, Pantagraph.com, May 18, 2009

Truck Speed--Too Fast, Too Slow?, Forbes.com, March 6, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

American Transportation Research Institute

Continue reading "Illinois Truck Accidents: Weighing the Benefits of Raising the Large Truck Speed Limit on Rural Interstates" »

The massive number of layoffs spurred by the bad economy is causing some unemployed workers to apply for jobs as long-haul truckers. The influx of new truck drivers bodes well for the US trucking industry, which has long had a shortage of truckers. There are tens of thousands of truck driver jobs that are still waiting to be filled.

Firstfleet Inc. fleet manager Tom Davis told MSNBC.com that job inquiries have gone up by 40% to 50% since November. Many laid-off professionals from different socioeconomic backgrounds, including lawyers and doctors, are now taking truck driver training class so they can get certified and earn their commercial trucker driver’s license.

According to American Truck Association president and chief executive Bill Graves, this influx of new blood is good for the industry, which has experienced setbacks because of the economic recession. Avondale Partners says that 3,065 trucking companies went belly up in 2008.

Truck Driver Inexperience
Just because a person takes a training course and gets their commercial trucking license doesn’t mean they know how to safely drive a truck. As with any kind of driving, it takes time and hours logged on the road behind the wheel of a vehicle for a trucker to develop the experience necessary to know how to safely navigate through different situations while operating an 18-wheeler truck, a semi-truck, a semi-trailer truck, a tractor-trailer, or any other large truck. Even experienced drivers run the risk of making mistakes.

A large-sized truck can be a dangerous vehicle to have in the hands of an inexperienced truck driver. The personal injuries that can result because a truck driver didn’t know how to prevent a Chicago truck accident from happening can be catastrophic.

Regardless of whether the truck driver was a new trucker or an experienced driver, as an Illinois truck accident victim you may be entitled to personal injury compensation if his or her negligence caused your truck collision.

Downturn puts trucking firms in driver’s seat, MSNBC, March 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Driver-related Regulations, FMCSA

Truck Driving Schools

Continue reading "Chicago Truck Accident Law Firm: Bad Economy Causes Unemployed, Inexperienced Workers to Seek Work As Long-Term Truck Drivers" »

A new federal bill is offering truck drivers tax incentives in exchange for installing safety devices that could decrease the number of deadly truck accidents. The bill comes in the wake of the deadly California large truck accident in La Canada Flintridge on April 1 that claimed the lives of a father and daughter.

The bill would give an up to $3,500/truck tax deduction (at $350,00 maximum) to trucking companies if they buy and use updatable GPS equipment that include rule changes and new road closures, warning systems that let truck drivers know when their trucks have moved out of a lane, and automated systems that shut down trucks when the vehicle’s brake system is overloaded. The tax credit would be valid through 2014 before expiring. American Trucking Association spokesperson Clayton Boyce says truck companies would support the bill, introduced by California Rep David Dreier, especially as it won’t cost truck companies additional expenses.

Dreier co-sponsored the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2009, also known as HR 2024. The bill recognizes that there are technologies that exist that can increase safety on US roads, including collision warnings, brake stroke monitoring, vehicle stability systems, and lane departure warnings. The tax incentives could be beneficial to most trucking companies, 95% of which are small businesses that own no more than 20 trucks. Dreier also sent letters to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spurring both federal agencies to increase efforts to study how effectively truck navigation devices work in terms of improving safety on US roads.

Large truck crashes can be fatal for those involved. It is the responsibility of truck drivers and trucking companies and the federal agencies that regulate truck safety to make sure that they do everything they can to minimize the number of trucking collisions that occur in Illinois and other US states.

Many trucking companies are experienced in limiting liability when one of their drivers causes a deadly truck collision and they may try to get you to settle immediately. It is important that you speak with an lllinois truck crash lawyer first before you settle.

Federal proposal offers incentives to increase truck safety, Pasadena Star, April 1, 2009

Dreier Seeks to Strengthen Technology Resources for Trucking Industry, Congressman David Dreier, April 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
HR 2024 Summary (PDF)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Continue reading "Preventing US Truck Accidents: New Federal Bill Tries to Decrease Truck Collisions by Offering Trucking Companies Tax Incentives to Install Safety Devices " »

According to the Department of Transportation, tire failure and brake defects are two common causes of trucking accidents. These can occur because of a defect in the brakes or tires caused by the manufacturer or product designer or because of improper maintenance. They can also occur due to negligence on the part of the trucking company or the driver, such as:

• When the trucker depowers the front brakes and depends on the trailer brakes to slow or downshift the vehicle.

• Improper brake setting.

• Failure by the truck driver to conduct a pre-trip inspection of all trucking equipment, which can consist of checking brake shoes to make sure they work correctly, making sure there aren’t any loose brake components, and checking for air leaks in the brake chamber.

• Improper loading can lead to brake malfunction or overheating.

The following tire-related problems can also lead to truck accidents:

• Improper tire maintenance

• Tire defect

• Using tires that do not meet minimum DOT tread depth standards

• Using mismatched tire sizes or tires that have significantly different wear

• Combining radial and bias ties on the same axle

• Improper tire pressure

• A worn or damaged tire

• A tire with air leakage or sidewall damage

There are federal regulations and laws that the trucking industry must abide by, and truck drivers, trucking companies, and their owners can be held liable if they failed to meet these standards and someone got hurt in a truck accident. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the US Department of Transportation are responsible for regulating the trucking industry, as is each state’s department of transportation.

Our Chicago truck accident lawyers can determine if the truck driver, the truck owner, the entity or person that leased the truck, the vehicle manufacturer, the tire maker, or the truck cargo shipper or loader should be held liable for your truck accident injuries.

Trucking Accidents: Common Causes & Liability, Nolo

Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

US Department of Transportation

Continue reading "Chicago Truck Accident Law Firm: Brake and Tire Failure Are Common Causes of Truck Accidents" »

In Illinois, the Senate and House have approved bills to increase the speed limit for heavy trucks on rural interstate highways to 65 miles an hour. The two bills however, are not identical, so the legislation will need more work before it can go to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

While the interstate highway speed limit for cars is 65 mph, the speed limit for semi-trucks is currently 55 mph. This has caused concern for traffic safety experts who think that having different speed limits increases the chances of traffic accidents. Illinois Senator Don Harmon from Oak Park, however, isn’t sure this is true. He points out that when the state of Missouri adopted a uniform speed limit on all state roads, the number of traffic deaths jumped.

House Bill 3956 passed with a 77-35 vote. A 38-14 vote lead to the approval of Senate Bill 1467. Cook County is not included in either bill. The five counties around Chicago are exempt from the House bill.

Large Truck Accidents
The owners and drivers of large garbage trucks, fully-loaded delivery trucks, semi-trucks, 18-wheeler trucks, and tractor-trailers have a responsibility to make sure that these vehicles are operated safely on US roads. A collision with one of these large vehicles can be deadly for the occupants of smaller vehicles and motorcycles, as well as bicyclists and pedestrians.

If you or someone you love was seriously injured in an Illinois truck crash, please contact our Chicago truck collision law firm today for your free case evaluation.

Although you cannot control a truck driver's behavior behind the wheel of a large truck, there are steps other motorists can take to avoid getting involved in a collision with a large truck, such as:

• Avoid cutting in front of a large truck and slowing down suddenly. The drivers of large trucks need more time to stop their vehicles than the drivers of passenger vehicles.
• Know that you if you are unable to see the trucker when you are looking at the truck’s side mirror, chances are the driver can’t see you and you should get out of the truck’s blind spot.

Legislators tackle speed limits for semis, overtime and steroids testing, Galesburg.com, March 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Lawmakers Want to Raise Semi-Trailer Truck Speed Limit to 65mph, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, March 12, 2009

The Large Truck Crash Causation Study, FMCSA

Continue reading "Illinois Senate and House Members Approve Bills to Raise Large Truck Speed Limit to 65 Mph" »

While many Illinois truck accidents do occur in Chicago and throughout the state because a trucker or another motorist was negligent, there are truck crashes that can occur because a truck driver was suffering from a serious medical condition that has impaired his or her ability to drive. One way the federal government has tried to prevent this is to require that truckers take a medical exam every two years.

One of the problems with this, however, is that anyone who is a medical examiner but is not necessarily qualified to determine whether a truck driver is medically fit to operate a commercially licensed truck, can sign off on this exam. It also is pretty easy for a truck driver to download blank medical cards online and fill out the information while forging a medical examiner’s signature. Doctor names and medical license numbers are now easily accessible online.

Last year, a congressional probe determined that one out of every three medical certificates that were examined could not be verified. In some instances, the doctors that supposedly signed off on the certificates could not be found or, when they were approached claimed they never examined the trucker. Even when a truck driver’s doctor was contacted for information, medical confidentiality prevented him or her from revealing patient information without a special waiver.

In December 2008, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approved a rule that gave the different states three years to start placing medical examination certificates and licenses for truckers and bus operators under one electronic source.

Illinois truck accidents
When a catastrophic Illinois truck accident happens because a trucker who was already suffering from a medical condition passed out, had a heart attack, or experienced another serious medical ailment, the consequences for the truck driver, other motorists, and pedestrians can be deadly. The Government Accountability Office reports that a May 2007 and June 2008 study shows that about 536,000 commercial vehicle operators were issued their commercial vehicle driver’s licenses even though they qualified for complete medical disability.

I-Team Investigation: Medically Unfit Truck Drivers, Kentucky Post.com, March 5, 2009

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Related Web Resource:
Truck Accident Laws, Justia

Continue reading "Chicago Truck Accidents Can Occur if Trucker has Serious Existing Medical Condition and Gets Sick While Driving" »