Updates Underway for Safety Regulations in the Trucking Industry

When a tractor-trailer or other large truck is involved in a collision, the risk of serious injuries increases dramatically given the sheer weight and size of these giants of the roadway. Although the trucking industry is regulated by the federal government in the United States, far too many carriers knowingly violate safety regulations if those regulations interfere with profit margins.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, is the federal agency whose mission it is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Recently the FMCSA announced an increase in civil penalties carriers pay for violations of many federal regulations. Whether the increases will have a direct impact on safety remains to be seen.

Trucking Accidents by the Numbers

Over the last couple of decades, the number of motor vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles has steadily decreased across the country. However, the number of accidents involving large trucks has increased significantly despite tougher laws and regulations aimed at making the nation’s roadways safer.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA, 333,000 large trucks were involved in collisions in 2012, resulting in 3,921 deaths and another 104,000 injuries. Those figures represent a four percent increase in fatalities and an 18 percent increase in the number of injuries over the previous year. Finally, although large trucks represent just three percent of all registered vehicles in the U.S., they are involved in over ten percent of all fatal crashes in a typical year.

Contributing Factors and Responsibility

Although numerous factors can cause a trucking accident, there are several common contributing factors, including:

• Fatigued driving
• Impaired driving
• Distracted driving
• Aggressive driving
• Equipment failure

One reason trucking accident lawsuits are more complicated to litigate than the average passenger vehicle accident lawsuit is that trucking accident cases typically involve multiple defendants. When a tractor-trailer, or other large truck, is found to have caused, or contributed to, a collision there are frequently several parties that could be held liable for injuries caused by the accident, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Driver of the truck
• Driver’s employer
• Owner of the truck and/or trailer
• Leasing company that leased the truck/trailer
• Owner of the cargo
• Shipper or loader of the cargo
• Manufacturer of the truck and/or trailer
• Manufacturer of tires or other truck parts

FCMSA Civil Penalties

The trucking industry operates under a wide variety of federal laws and regulations that govern everything from the number of hours a driver is allowed to remain behind the wheel between rest periods to how often a vehicle must be inspected. The FMCSA is the agency responsible for enacting and enforcing many of those regulations. In a recently issued final rule, the FMCSA announced it will be increasing civil penalty amounts for violations of many (39 out of 67) regulations the agency is charged with enforcing beginning in June of 2015. Examples of increases to common violations include:

• Operating a commercial vehicle by a driver during the period the driver was placed out of service – penalty increased from $2,100 to $3,100 per day.
• Knowingly falsifying records – increased from $10,000 to $11,000
• Carrier financial responsibility violations – penalty increased from $16,000 to $21,000

How Common Are Safety Violations in Large Trucks?

Given the hefty penalties for violating safety rules and regulations, one might conclude that violations are not common. Unfortunately, however, that conclusion would be incorrect. All too often trucking companies overlook violations, or even knowingly ignore federal safety regulations in an effort to increase profits. Drivers are allowed, even encouraged, to ignore Hours of Service (HOS) rules, inspections are rushed or overlooked entirely, and/or repairs and maintenance issues are ignored by some trucking companies when those regulations interfere with profits.

By way of example, in March 2015, a big rig slammed into a restaurant in Pittsburg, California, killing the driver and injuring at least four other people. The company that owns the truck has a lengthy history of safety violations as well as a recent yard inspection that found the company to be unsatisfactory in all categories – yet the company still had trucks on the road. Sadly, violations are not the exception but the norm for some trucking companies – part of the “cost of doing business.” These violations, however, potentially put everyone on the roadways at risk as the recent fatal accident illustrates.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you could be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Only an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer can evaluate your case and explain your legal rights. Contact Atlanta personal injury lawyer Harris Lowry Manton, to discuss your legal options.