Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

Tired truck drivers are a real safety hazard investigation reveals. This week, WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis aired its investigation of tired truck drivers. What they found further confirms that tired truckers are a safety hazard.

Reporter Rick Dawson noted that truck drivers are under pressure to drive as long as possible and make faster deliveries. Government regulations are lax and when they’re broken, trucking companies look the other way.

J.R. Rose, an Alabama truck driver, was interviewed for the story. He bluntly stated: “There ain’t no safety, it’s all about money.”

In the segment, truckers also discussed the practice of keeping two log books that track hours. One book is shown to the police and the other is given to the trucking company.

A trucker who drove longer than allowed caused one of the deadliest crashes in Indiana history. In April of 2006, five people were killed on I-69 in Grant County. The truck driver, Robert Spencer, crossed the median and slammed into a van carrying Taylor University students and a staff member.

Spencer is now in prison.

The news segment advises motorists to quickly pass trucks and stay out of blind spots. If a motorist sees a truck driver who appears tired, the state police should be alerted.

If you or a loved one has been injured or a family member has been killed in a collision with a large truck, we urge you to contact The Lowe Law Firm. Our trucking-accident attorneys will find out whether the truck driver, trucking company, or trailer owner is responsible for the accident. If so, we will then seek compensation for future and other related medical expenses, future and other affected wages, pain and suffering, disability and/or other related damages.

An initial free consultation with The Lowe Law Firm attorneys for victims of trucking or truck related accidents is available. Appointments can take place at our office, at the hospital, or in the privacy of your home.

Contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois trucking-accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Visit our Truck-Accident Information Center.

Tired truck drivers aren’t the only ones who cause accidents. Fatigue also plays a role in bus crashes.

On July 13, 2005, a tour bus carrying members of Eminem’s Anger Management 3 Tour rear-ended a tractor trailer on westbound I-70 near Odessa, Missouri. Four of the bus passengers as well as the truck driver and his wife were injured in the collision.

The tour bus was driven by Charles Dilligard of Entertainment Coaches of America. The bus was traveling from Chicago to Denver for the next show in the tour. The tractor trailer was in the left lane when the tour bus rapidly approached it from behind. The bus driver swerved right to avoid rear-ending the truck. In order to avoid crashing into a guard rail, the bus driver swerved back to the left, hitting the truck. The truck drove off the road, went into the grass median, drove through the cable divider, and crossed both eastbound highway lanes before ending up on the shoulder of eastbound I-70.

The truck driver suffered bruised ribs and lost the use of his truck for six weeks after the accident. His wife suffered a cervical fracture, spinal trauma, nerve damage and other injuries as a result of the accident. I represented the truck driver and his wife in a subsequent lawsuit.

My clients and the four injured bus passengers alleged that at the time of the accident, the bus driver was fatigued. We alleged he exceeded the number of driving hours allowed under federal law for commercial bus driver. We also claimed that the bus driver was speeding. A number of witnesses estimated that the bus was traveling over 85 miles an hour. At the time of the accident, the black box on the tractor trailer revealed that the truck was going 68 miles an hour.

Without admitting liability, the bus driver and the bus company agreed to settle the personal injury claims last year for $945,000.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident involving a bus, please contact our attorneys for legal assistance as soon as possible. We will investigate to determine whether the bus or the driver was responsible for causing the accident.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping victims of bus accidents. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases.

Contact the lawyers at The Lowe Law Firm today by calling 877-678-3400.

Truckers who drive under the influence or while intoxicated are a danger to the motorists who share the road with them. Just as deadly are truckers who drive while drowsy.

According to an article in the Red Bluff Daily News, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that driver fatigue is to blame for 30 to 40 percent of accidents involving commercial trucks in North America.

In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy drivers kills more than 1,550 people each year and is responsible for at least 100,000 crashes.

Finally, the Large Truck Crash Causation Study estimates that fatigue was an associated factor in 13 percent of all trucking accidents.

The Red Bluff Daily News reported that a new device has been developed that warns drivers when they have reached dangerous fatigue levels. When one longtime truck driver was asked by the reporter if the device would benefit him, he replied, “The long hours don’t bother me.”

I’m not surprised by this response. Despite the severity of the problem, many truck drivers refuse to believe they drive while drowsy.

If you or a loved one has been injured or a family member has been killed in a collision with a large truck, we urge you to contact The Lowe Law Firm. Our trucking-accident attorneys will find out whether the truck driver, trucking company, or trailer owner is responsible for the accident. If so, we will then seek compensation for future and other related medical expenses, future and other affected wages, pain and suffering, disability and/or other related damages.

An initial free consultation with The Lowe Law Firm attorneys for victims of trucking or truck related accidents is available. Appointments can take place at our office, at the hospital, or in the privacy of your home.

Contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois trucking-accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Visit our Truck-Accident Information Center.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on Feb. 15, the that the public comment period on truck drivers' hours-of-service interim final rule was extended until March 17, 2008.

The interim rule would allow trucking companies and their drivers up to 11 hours of driving time within a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the work day, followed by 10 consecutive off-duty hours.

The interim rule replaced one that was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On July 16, the court tossed out a similar rule that would have increased driving time from ten hours to eleven hours with an optional 34-hour restart provision. As I noted on Feb. 10, this new rule should also be rejected.

If you or a loved one has been injured or a family member has been killed in a collision with a large truck, we urge you to contact The Lowe Law Firm. Our trucking-accident attorneys will find out whether the truck driver, trucking company, or trailer owner is responsible for the accident. If so, we will then seek compensation for future and other related medical expenses, future and other affected wages, pain and suffering, disability and/or other related damages.

An initial free consultation with The Lowe Law Firm attorneys for victims of trucking or truck related accidents is available. Appointments can take place at our office, at the hospital, or in the privacy of your home.

Contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois trucking-accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Visit our Truck-Accident Information Center.

St. Louis – A lawsuit arising from a chain-reaction accident on Interstate 70 in Indiana that injured two motorists has been filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Indiana.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, around 9:25 p.m., Giacamo Amari, 42, and his son Jonathan Ghahary, 21, were traveling in a car headed east on I-70 near Richmond, Ind. It had been raining, and the highway was wet. A tractor-trailer owned by Salt Lake City-based C.R. England and driven by Kenneth Williams was westbound on I-70 when it allegedly hydroplaned, veered off the highway, crossed the median and drove into oncoming traffic.

Amari swerved to avoid a collision. Their car spun clockwise into the left lane of eastbound highway and ended up sideways. A tractor-trailer owned by Lincoln, Neb.-based Crete Carrier Corp. and driven by Richard Isaacs, eastbound in the left lane, broadsided the car.

Amari and Ghahary were seriously injured in the crash. Amari suffered cervical-spine injuries that required multiple surgeries and also sustained a closed-head injury and postconcussion syndrome. Ghahary suffered a herniated lumbar disc in his spine.

Jeffrey J. Lowe of The Lowe Law Firm filed a personal injury suit on behalf of the motorists in December 2007 against the trucking companies and their drivers. It alleges that the truck drivers were traveling too fast for the wet conditions and that they failed to keep a careful lookout. As a result, the C.R. England truck driver lost control of his semi and the Crete Carrier truck driver was unable to take evasive action to avoid the crash.

“Truck drivers speed on slick roads because of the financial pressures to quickly deliver their loads. Unfortunately, that haste leads to crashes, and it is usually the careful motorist who ends up paying the price,” Lowe said.

Headquartered in St. Louis, The Lowe Law Firm represents clients nationwide in trucking accident, catastrophic injury, mass tort, and class action litigation cases nationwide. For more information, contact Jeffrey J. Lowe at 314-678-3400 or e-mail jeff@jefflowepc.com.

The number of hours a truck driver in interstate commerce can drive is governed by the federal hours of service regulations. The comment period on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s interim rule on the hours-of-service regulation will end on Feb. 15. The interim rule went into effect on Dec. 27. It permits 11 hours of driving with an optional 34-hour restart provision.

The interim rule replaced one that was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On July 16, the court tossed out a similar rule that would have increased driving time from ten hours to eleven hours with an optional 34-hour restart provision.

The latest proposed rule should also be rejected. Several studies have shown that trucking accidents spike between the tenth and eleventh hours of driving. Tired drivers are a major cause of trucking accidents in this country. Instead of protecting the public, this rule serves only to lengthen the driving day so that that trucking companies can make more money. Unfortunately, it is the innocent motorist involved in a truck-car collision who will wind up paying the highest price.