Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

Highway 40, also known as Interstate 64, which is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the st. Louis metro east region which provides access to St. Louis for many people who live in Illinois and work in St. Louis each day, as well as provides major access to west St. Louis County, is going to have a 10.5 mile stretch re-built from east of Kingshighway in St. Louis to west of Spoede Road in Frontenac, Missouri. On that stretch, all bridges and 12 interchanges along the route are going to be re-built, and there is going to be a lane added in each direction between Interstate I-64 and Spoede Road.

I know from experience that whenever there is a highway construction project, especially one of this magnitude which is reported to be the largest highway construction project in state history, because changes in what drivers are used to on the highway, unexpected traffic slow downs, there are going to be more accidents on this stretch of highway. In fact a highway engineer can probably predict fairly accurately the number of additional accidents and deaths that this project will cause. In addition, because of the magnitude of the project, I know there will be much more traffic through areas on the roads that run parallel to the highway, which will also result not only in more congestion, but more accidents.

Once the construction project starts, I am inviting drivers to post comments on where they see dangers, alternative routes they have found that work (if they wish to share them), or anything else which are important to drivers during the trying three years of this construction project. Anyone who drives Highway 40 knows how bad it can be. Right now, even at certain times of the year due to sunshine slowdowns, there will be traffic backups as well as accidents.

The rebuilding project starts in the spring of 2008 with the re-building of the 1-170 interchange with Highway 40/64 in Richmond Heights. During this time, there will be no significant lane closings. The construction on the I-170 interchange will start in spring 2007 and there will be some late night and weekend lane closings as crews re-build the interchange. In 2008 and 2009 there are going to be lane closures in both directions.

Anyone who drives this from Chesterfield to downtown will know that this will make this crucial east/west corridor almost impossible to travel. In 2009, the western half of the Highway 40/64 corridor will re-open and the eastern half will close.

In order to help drivers cope with this nightmare, message boards on the I-270 loop will provide travel times and the Missouri Department of Transportation will have a 511 number that will give callers traffic updates and travel times. In addition, before sections of Highway 40 (I-64) close, there will be additional lanes created on Interstate 44 between Interstate 270 and downtown and on Interstate 70 between I-270 and I-170.

Before 2008, the County Highway Department will be improving traffic signals and major connectors such as Clayton Road and Forrest Park Parkway to handle the added traffic. In addition, they will be upgrading traffic signals along Page Avenue, Olive Blvd., Manchester Road, and Lindbergh to help traffic flow according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Also, all hospitals that use the Highway 40/64 corridor will meet with MoDot officials to find out what primary roads their emergency vehicles should use during the closure.

In my experience in dealing with trucking companies, it is one of the worst kept secrets in the industry that many over-the-road truck drivers falsify the log books that they are required to keep pursuant to federal regulations. In an attempt to address this situation as needed, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on January 11th proposed federal regulations that would require certain truck and bus companies with a history of serious hours of service violations to be required to install electronic on-board recorders in all of their commercial vehicles for a minimum of two years. The proposed rule would also encourage industry wide use of on-board recording devices which are sometimes referred to as black boxes by providing incentives for voluntary use. This rule would also for the first time mandate that these recorders keep track of hours of service data and location tracking information, such as global positioning systems data. The current federal performance standards for the recorders already in use by trucking fleets date back to 1988 before wide-spread use of GPS, wireless communications were in common use.

As an attorney who practices in the trucking accident area, I personally believe that it is long past due that trucking companies be required to use recorders on their commercial vehicles. This rule is a start by targeting the worst offenders, and providing incentives to encourage industry use of recorders, as well as to update performance standards on the recorders. This type of data in a trucking accident, can lead to objective data to prove who was actually at fault in a truck crash.
The proposed rule requires the use of recorders that track the driver's duty status, identity, date, time and location among carriers against trucking companies who demonstrated a 10% or greater violation rate, for any of the hours regulations as determined by compliance reviews during a two year period. Trucking and bus companies that meet this criteria would have to equip their entire fleets with recorders for a minimum of two years. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimated that 930 trucking companies and common carriers and 17,500 drivers would fall under this requirement if the rule took effect as of June 11, 2007.

The FMCSA stated that it would like the recorders to be more common among the 650,000 motor carriers in the United States. The proposed rule also contained another incentive for trucking companies to update their fleets now before the new rule takes effect. Under the proposed rule, once the final rule takes effects it would start a two year time period which newly installed recorders would have to meet the new technical requirements of the rule. Trucking companies that voluntarily install recorders before that time would be allowed to continue using those devices for the life of the truck. According to the FMCSA, the goal is to get more trucks and buses using innovative safety technologies and that on-board recorders that will improve safety on the nation's highways.

The American Trucking Association, a truck driver organization, announced its support of the proposed rule. The ATA stated that it was pleased that the Department of Transportation has taken another step toward assuring future gains in improved highway safety. The ATA President, Bill Graves, stated that "We support this incentive-based approach to the use of electronic on-board recorders. Technology can play a significant role in enhancing road safety and help to ensure the reliability of commercial vehicle operations."

I also support these proposed rules. Under the current hours of service rules, a truck driver can drive as many as 8 uninterrupted hours in a day, and can drive additional hours after a mandated rest. With these liberal regulations, drivers who violate those regulations are a hazard on the road and if it is known that their companies will have objective evidence that they violated these rules, they will be much more likely to comply with the safety based rules.

In Illinois 10 people were killed in truck and car accidents over the Christmas holidays. Four of the 10 people killed were under 21 and 7 were under 27. Police were searching for a truck that struck a vehicle killing two people in the Cook county area. The driver of the truck fled on foot with another person and the police are talking to "persons of interest."

The holiday season can be a dangerous one. Being the father of 2 teenage daughters who both drive, the number of deaths involving people under 21 is of great concern. In trying to find a common factor for the four deaths, 3 involved boys, and 2 in the early morning hours. The death involving the girl occurred when her Jeep flipped and she was partially ejected and may not have been wearing her seat belt.

No parent can completely protect their children once they start driving. As a lawyer handling truck and care crash cases as well as a parent I believe I can give some advice regarding driving safety. First, have your child drive the safest and newest car you can afford. The newer cars tend to have the most up to date safety features such as side impact or side curtain air bags, anti-lock brakes, staged or smart front air bags, electronic stability equipment and SUV's with lower center of gravity and wider wheel base to reduce the vehicle's propensity to roll over.

Also limit driving after curfew to the extent possible. Nothing good happens when teenagers are driving after 1:00 a.m. Most of all always wear your seat belt and make sure they wear theirs. The most common reason for a death involving a car accident is from being ejected from the vehicle. Cars are designed to protect a belted passenger. If you are not belted you become a projectile and frequently are ejected from the vehicle and cannot take advantage of the designed protection such as air bags, pillars to prevent roof crush, as well as other safety features. And most of all, many teenagers will drink, make sure they have a designated driver.

Eight people died in truck and car crashes in Missouri during the 78 hour period from December 29, 2006 through January 11, 2007. this included three fatalities that occurred on December 31, 2006 when a family from Menasha, WI died when their vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer. This is also the same number of fatalities that occurred in Missouri the previous year.

I realize that nothing can be done regarding those deaths, but hopefully by making people aware of the extent of the problem, Missouri drivers will pay special attention to driving safely next holiday season. You should know that the holiday season cam be especially dangerous.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol during the New Years counting period which began December 29, 2006 at 11:59 p.m. and ended January 1, 2007, they investigated 247 vehicle crashes which included 109 injuries and 8 fatalities. The Missouri Highway Patrol also arrested 132 people for driving while intoxicated. The previous year, the Missouri Highway patrol investigated 220 traffic crashes involving 81 injuries and 8 deaths. Last year 151 people were arrested for driving while intoxicated.

The 8 fatalities during this holiday season, occurred in various parts of Missouri. Two occurred in the St. Louis area and were investigated by Troop C of the Missouri Highway Patrol, two occurred in the Rolla Missouri area and were investigated by Troop I, two occurred in the St. Joseph MO area and were investigated by Troop H, and 1 occurred in Lee's summit and Springfield Mo areas and were investigated by troop A and D respectively.

The holidays should be a time to relax and be with family and friends. As you can see, it can also be a dangerous and tragic time on the roadways. My advice is to travel with caution while driving all of the time but be especially cautious during every holiday season, and of course don't drink and drive.

There are approximately 5,000 deaths annually in truck related accidents and approximately 114,000 injuries sustained in truck accidents. After reading these statistics and driving home from my office in St. Louis MO, west on Interstate 44 with a 65 foot tractor trailer in my rear view mirror, I was not thinking---I hope that driver has been driving for eleven hours today so that he can maximize the profits for his company. That is the effect of the Bush administration's rejection of proposals to restrict the number of hours truckers could drive on the road. This loosening of regulations for truckers was preceded by guess what, lobbying efforts by the trucking industry.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration loosening standards has been done under the guise of fulfilling President Bush's pledge to free the trucking industry from "cumbersome rules. I guess that these rules on how long a truck driver can drive are not really promulgated for safety of the truck driver and the cars he or she meets on the road, but are restrictions on free enterprise, at least from the view point of the current administration.

This relaxing of regulations is in spite of the fact that a person dies in the United States every 15 minutes in a trucking related accident. Over the last 6 years, the Federal Motor Carrier safety administration has with the support of the White House rejected proposals reduce the number of hours a truck driver can drive, rejected proposals to impose electronic monitoring to prevent widespread cheating on drivers logs and rejected calls for for more rigorous truck driver training.

As long as the government and trucking companies have this attitude, there will be work for people like me, a trial lawyer. There is nothing that convinces a jury to award large damages then evidence that the defendant put profits over safety.