Orlando Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Unfortunately, as Orlando car accident lawyers we see truck wrecks becoming too common on our roads. The result, in part, has caused the public to become more educated about the laws and regulations pertaining to tractor-trailers involved in truck accidents and the regulations that truck accident lawyers rely upon in assisting clients.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (Title 49, Parts 350-399) govern all vehicles engaged in interstate traffic. These are the regulations that truck accident lawyers consider depending upon the circumstances of a particular case. For example, if drugs or alcohol may be involved as a reason for your client’s car being struck by a tractor-trailer, then your truck accident lawyer will consider not only state law, but also 49 CFR 382: Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing.

The function of 49 CFR 382 is to establish programs within trucking companies designed to prevent accidents and injuries resulting from impairment due to the use of alcohol or drugs by drivers of commercial motor vehicles. This part applies to all who drive a commercial motor vehicle in the United States and their employers including any employer who employs himself as a driver. There are also specific requirements for drug testing and certain exceptions as well.
In addition, some truck accident cases may involve a driver who has been on the road for many hours or traveling at an excessive speed to perform his responsibilities for the trucking company. 49 CFR 395, Hours of Service of Drivers, regulates the hours and service that it permissible. Obviously, if a truck driver has been violating these requirements he and his company increase the risk of inattention, fatigue and accidents.

Other federal regulations to consider may include: 49 CFR 383: Commercial Driver's License Standards; 49 CFR 392: Driving of Commercial Motor Vehicles; 49 CFR 393: Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; 49 CFR 396: Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance and 49 CFR 397: Transportation of Hazardous Materials. Certainly, federal regulations provide the “rules of the road” in these cases.

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As Orlando car accident lawyers we have found it appropriate to focus our client’s car accident case, not on our client, but on the egregious circumstances involved in the tragedy. By doing so, the defense can not concentrate on its typical “watering down” of damages. To the contrary, the defense is forced to deal with and explain the careless or reckless conduct of the defendant. In car accident cases involving commercial trucks such an approach provides an opportunity for a jury to consider just how important it may be to render a significant verdict against the truck driver and trucking company.

When you begin your investigation of the car accident involving a commercial truck, do not simply determing who was at fault and what liability insurance is available. Rather, determine why the accident occurred. You can only do this if you are familiar with the federal regulations that govern commercial trucking. Using those regulations, you should consider violations that may have made your client’s tragedy more likely to occur.

For example, if you are asked to represent a family struck by a tractor-trailer that traveled in the break-down and ran into the rear of your client’s car, it is not enough to demonstate that the failure to keep the truck in his own travel lane caused the collision. That does not explain the “why.” You must prove deeper and determine from the trucking company that the allotted time given to their drivers, does not reasonably allow for their truck drivers to either travel within the speed limit or to take the necessary breaks. Both of these circumstances will help focus on the totally preventable nature of the tragedy.

In so doing, you will keep the focus where it should be-on the truck driver who knew he was wrong and the trucking company who created the environment to encourage violations of federal trucking regulations. The benefits include keeping the defense from seriously contending your client was comparatively negligent, potential punitive damages and a significant verdict by a jury unimpressed with the defendants’ conduct.

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Representing Orlando car accident victims involving trucks and tractor-trailers, we find that basic discovery may include inquiry into the inspection of the truck or tractor-trailer before the trip that ended in tragedy for our client. As with other litigation, focusing on basic requirements may lead to beneficial evidence.

For example, in the trucking industry if a trucking company or its truck driver consider it important to inspect the truck and tractor-trailer before making any long-distance haul then whether and how that truck driver conducted his of her inspection may be a value to any case involving a car –truck accident.

According to industry experts a careful inspection of a tractor-trailer performed by its driver is the hallmark of safety and professionalism in the commercial driving industry, and it is integral for drivers to complete an accurate and efficient inspection every time they anticipate a journey in order to become familiar with an inspection routine to a degree that it can be performed instinctually. If each time a rig is inspected it is done in an identical fashion the driver will be less likely to omit a key element of the process during a future inspection.

It has been expressed that an appropriate inspection would begin with the front of truck. A driver should be able to discuss all that was inspected and a readily identifiable method so that he can be certain not to omit anything of importance in the inspection of the tractor or trailer. looking for any signs of damage including the lights and reflectors on the top of the tractor, the side mirrors, the spot mirrors, the windshield, and the lights and reflectors on the bottom of the tractor. The driver should then look beneath the tractor to make sure no puddles of liquid are present that might indicate a leak in an engine component. From there the engine should be inspected, the suspension system, and brakes.

The driver should then continue around the sides of the tractor checking the lights and reflectors on the top and bottom of the left side of the tractor and also the window, the side mirror, the door, the side door box, and the fuel tank. Without taking you through the remainder of the inspection, you can easily see that a detailed examination of the truck driver in your car-truck accident case may prove quite fruitful. Only if a truck driver has systematically conducted these inspections can he or she be certain to properly perform it every time.

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In car accidents cases involving carelessness by a truck driver, especially a long-distance truck driver, your client may benefit from modern technology used by many trucking companies today. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Electronic Control Modules(ECM) provide a great deal of information that previously was unavailable. More and more frequently you will find that trucks are being linked to their company headquarters via satellites and receivers as part of a GPS. This allows drivers to be tracked by their employers. In addition, any important communication can be sent and received within seconds, including weather reports, directions, and other beneficial information.

In addition, like those “black boxes” that are key to airplane crash investigations, ECM provides useful information regarding a truck’s operation before the crash. In trucks, depending on the particular vehicle, these devices can provide information regarding the stop-and-go driving throttle position seconds before impact, state of driver's seatbelt switch, departure and arrival times, vehicle stop time, road miles and cruise control time. It may also reveal the number of unnecessarily long stops, the number of time exhaust rises above a safe temperature, engine warm-up and engine cool-down times, idling times, vehicle speed seconds prior to impact, engine speed seconds before impact, brake use just before impact and fan clutch use.

Considering that approximately 18,000 tow-away crashes occur every day, technology allowing vehicle safety researchers to collect accurate and detailed crash data can not only determine who was at fault in an accident, but also help to engineer reconstructions of truck accidents-this often lends insight to a crash that other engineering methods don't. For example, crash data from heavy trucks can provide a record of driver behavior and vehicle speed for nearly 2 minutes and provide a clear picture of pre-crash events. Obviously, plaintiff’s discovery in these cases may benefit from all that modern technology has made available to the trucking industry.

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In representing car accident victims that were injured by commercial trucks we find it helpful to educate folks about car-truck accidents. Perhaps, you or your clients will benefit from these common questions and answers that arise in truck litigation:

“What is a commercial truck?”
A commercial truck is a vehicle used in the course of business and/or for the transport of commercial goods, including eighteen-wheeler tractor trailers, tanker trucks, delivery trucks, and other large freight trucks.

What are the common causes of truck accidents?
There are many contributing factors to reasons why a truck accident occurs in the first place. These accidents are usually caused by a combination of a truck’s unique characteristics and performance capabilities (limits associated with acceleration, braking, and visibility) and car drivers' ignorance of these characteristics. However, some other causes of trucking accidents include: lack of training on the part of the truck driver; overloaded trucks; oversized trucks; ill-maintained brakes on the trucks; driving in conditions of poor visibility; Fatigued, sleepy or tired driver driving too long and too many hours without rest; speeding or driving at speeds beyond the road or weather conditions; running off the road; failure to yield the right of way; truck drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol while driving; reckless truck driver with a long record of truck accidents; unsafe safety systems, reflectors, lights and other warning devices; and, failure to have installed an underride protection underguard.

Are trucking companies regulated by the Federal Government?
Yes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration establishes rules and regulations which govern commercial motor vehicles and the companies who operate these vehicles. Their stated purpose is to attempt to make the interstate highways safer.

Who can be sued in a truck accident case?
Any person or entity that was at fault for causing the accident can be sued. This can include the truck driver and the trucking company, the owner of the trailer, the shipper, as well as any other driver, person or entity who in anyway contributed to the accident, such as the manufacturer of one of the vehicles involved in the accident, the manufacturer of a tire that contributed to the accident or the owner of any public or private property whose negligence contributed to the accident.

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As Orlando injury lawyers handling truck accidents we have found the web site published by the Truck Safety Coalition to provide an insightful perspective. That organization is a partnership between The Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) Foundation, and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T). The Truck Safety Coalition is dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by truck-related crashes, providing compassionate support to truck crash survivors and families of truck crash victims, and educating the public, policy-makers and media about truck safety issues.

Recently, the Truck Safety Coalition The Truck Safety Coalition has issued a report card based on truck accidents that have occurred throughout the United States. While the earliest year of data available is from 2005, the report sheds light on some the worst truck accident states. After evaluating the number of truck accidents that occurred through out the country, the Truck Safety Coalition looked at the number of truck accident deaths that occurred for every 100,000 people. The results they generated ranked each state from deadliest to safest.

Over 114,000 people were injured in truck accidents in 2005, and in addition to this, 5,200 people were killed in truck accidents, making the average number of truck accidents with fatalities 1.76 deaths for every 100,000 people. While Florida is not among them, the 10 states with the highest average of truck accident deaths per 100,000 population Wyoming, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, South Carolina and Missouri.

We believe this web site may assist you in your truck accident cases, including wrongful death actions. Any resource that provides an injury lawyer with a deeper understanding of the losses involved in a particular type of case can only enhance the ability to advocate and make your jury "feel the loss."

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Posted In: Truck Accidents

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