How Can the Department of Transportation Prevent Fatal Truck Accidents?

U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show there were 3,424 fatal truck accidents in 2014. Causes of these accidents included commercial drivers who were speeding, using drugs or alcohol or falling asleep at the wheel. Additional accidents were caused by drivers travelling behind semi-trucks who were unable to see upcoming traffic or obstacles.Federal regulators and commercial carriers have considered several solutions to prevent truck accidents. Solutions include requiring speed-limiting devices, ELDs, automatic emergency brakes or early warning systems on commercial trucks.

Can These Solutions Prevent Fatal Truck Accidents?

• ELDs and hours of service: Federal regulators will soon require electronic logging devices (ELDs) on commercial trucks. These devices electronically log how many hours truckers are driving. Presently, many truckers still record their driving hours (hours of service compliance) on paper logs. Proponents of ELDs claim paper logs can be falsified. ELDs record information directly from the truck, making falsification impossible. The FMCSA believes ELDs will save lives, but it has experienced pushback from the commercial trucking industry.

• Speed-limiting devices: The FMCSA and NHTSA recently proposed speed-limiting devices on commercial vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. If this proposal became a rule, it could limit truck speeds to 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour. Speed-limiting devices could reduce the damage caused by truck accidents. Trucks travelling at faster speeds will have greater impact force when they collide with other vehicles. Opponents of this measure claim speed-limiting devices would cause road rage and speed differentials between large trucks and other traffic.

• Automatic emergency braking: NHTSA has considered a rule that would require all trucks to be outfitted with automatic emergency brakes (AEBs). According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, AEB’s would decrease fatal truck accidents by 44 to 47 percent. This technology could potentially save hundreds of lives every year.

• Early warning systems: Due to the nature of their job, truck drivers can become inattentive after driving for long periods of time. Early warning systems use onboard sensors to alert drivers when a collision is imminent. They also warn drivers who are in danger of veering off the road. The best early warning systems would utilize automatic brakes in case the drivers failed to respond.

How Would You Prevent Fatal Tuck Accidents?

There are other solutions that may prevent truck accidents not mentioned on our blog post today. One example is requiring sleep apnea screening for commercial drivers with certain BMIs or preexisting health conditions.Let’s pretend for a moment that you are the Administrator of the FMCSA, and tasked with developing solutions to prevent thousands of deaths and injuries caused by truck crashes each year. Which of these solutions would you pursue to prevent these deaths and injuries? Would you create your own solution?Let us know what you think by connecting with the Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC on Facebook and Twitter.

Should Large Vehicles Use Speed Limiting Devices?

East Texas has experienced several truck accidents in recent weeks. Last week, a log truck rollover in Nacogdoches shut down part of Highway 7. In August, a tractor-trailer and two passenger vehicles were involved in a collision in Lufkin. Two people lost their lives. Recent news is a reminder that commercial vehicles are capable of causing more destruction than passenger vehicles. It is important for commercial drivers to avoid speeding and other dangerous driving habits. However, commercial drivers are human beings, and therefore not immune to making mistakes. For this reason, federal regulators are putting an emphasis on using new technologies to prevent these bad behaviors. Speed limiting devices might be one way to accomplish this goal.

Why The FMCSA and NHTSA Want Speed Limiting Devices

A proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposal would make speed limiting devices mandatory on commercial and multipurpose vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. This would include tractor-trailers, school buses, passenger buses and other large vehicles.At the moment, the rule has considered using the devices to cap maximum speeds at 60, 65 or 68 mph. The FMCSA’s and NHTSA’s rule has been submitted to the Federal Register and will now be open to public comment until November 7th. Critics and proponents of the rule have already voiced their opinions through multiple press releases. We can learn quite a bit from what they are saying.U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx claims that speed limiting devices on large vehicles could serve an important purpose. He claims it would save lives. NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind echoed these sentiments, saying that decreasing speed would reduce the impact force from collisions. According to both Department of Transportation agencies, speed limiting devices on vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds could save 27 to 498 lives every year. Both arguments also suggest that many people could be spared the hardships of living with disabilities from catastrophic injuries.On the opposing side of the rule, is the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). According to the OOIDA, the new rule would jeopardize the safety of all motorists because it would lead to speed differentials and road rage. The association claims that highways are safer when all vehicles are driving close to the same speed.

Where Do You Stand On This Issue?

Both sides make some interesting points. We know that speeding commercial trucks are more likely to experience rollovers, jackknifing, have less time to stop and are much more likely to cause fatal collisions due to the massive impact force. On the other hand, road rage is dangerous and capable of causing accidents. People undergoing a fit of road rage are much more likely to perform dangerous maneuvers, such as leaving the highway to pass other vehicles or speeding.If it were up to you, would you want to implement the rule that requires speed limiting devices on vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds? Keep up with the Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC on Facebook and share your thoughts.

Why Do Overloaded Trucks Cause Accidents?

Any commercial truck on the road poses increased danger to other motorists, but an overloaded truck presents a variety of additional hazards. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) imposes weight limits on trucking companies in order to prevent as many weight-related truck accidents as possible.According to the FMCSA, the weight limit for a commercial motor vehicle is a gross weight (truck and cargo) of no more than 80,000 pounds. Some trucking companies have been caught ignoring the rule in attempt to boost productivity. In 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety cited 61,184 drivers for operating overweight trucks. Overloaded trucks are responsible for hundreds of accidents on Texas roads every year. In 2011, 1,137 accidents on Texas highways were caused by overloaded trucks, in which four drivers died and another 30 were injured.

What Risks Do Overloaded Trucks Pose?

A commercial truck can easily weigh 20 or 30 times more than an average vehicle. That means that they cause significantly more damage upon impact. Other dangers associated with overloading include:

• Difficulty stopping – The increased weight means more mass. More mass means more momentum. More momentum means it could take much longer for an overweight truck to stop; too long to prevent a fatal car accident.

• Risk of breaking axles – The axles on a truck are rated to carry a certain weight. If the axles are overloaded, they could break. If the axle on a 100,000-pound, rolling object breaks while it’s traveling 60 mph, that’s going to do some damage to any vehicles nearby.

• Instability and tip overs – Overweight trailers could also cause the truck and its cargo to fall over, potentially crushing cars passing by.

• Increased risk of dropping cargo – Falling debris is also a serious concern with overloaded trucks. When trucks are overloaded, it’s difficult to ensure that cargo is strapped in tightly.

What Can I Do If I’m Injured in an Overloaded Truck Accident?

If a trucking company asks its drivers to take on more weight than regulations allow, they may cause a serious accident. Truck drivers and companies have a responsibility to follow the rules and keep other people on the road safe. The vehicles they are driving are deadly, and should be handled with caution. Depending on the circumstances of an accident, truckers and commercial carriers can be held liable when other drivers are injured or killed. Profits should never take precedence over the lives of other people.If you were injured because a trucking company valued productivity and profit over your safety, you should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.

Can This Device Prove Who Caused a Truck Accident?

Commercial aircraft are required to have cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders. You may know of these devices as ‘the black box’, a term frequently used by the mainstream media after a major airplane crash. Black boxes record operational data on planes (such as the movement of rudders, ailerons or actions of the autopilot) and sounds from the cockpit. Without the black box, we wouldn’t be able to determine the causes of plane crashes. Commercial trucks also have a ‘black box’ called the electronic control module (ECM). ECMs are onboard computers that control and monitor engines, transmissions and braking systems.Depending on the type of truck involved, ECMs can record varying information. For example, some ECMs can record truck speed, time driven, clutch use, cruise control status and sudden stops. If a trucker were to cause an accident, his or her ECM might show the truck was speeding at the time of the crash. Data collected from the ECM might also show whether a truck driver’s hours-of-service logs have been falsified. Remember, many ECMs record driving time!Black box technology on trucks continues to improve. Electronic logging devices (ELDs) are very similar to ECMs, but will be capable of recording driver behavior with greater accuracy. ELDs record engine hours, vehicle movement and location information. It would simplify the process of proving who is at fault in an accident. New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules may make ELDs mandatory for all commercial trucks by December of 2017.One of the greatest benefits of ELDs is that drivers would be unable to falsify driving logs that record the numbers of hours driven. At the moment, many commercial carriers still use written driving logs that truckers can falsify. Truckers can falsify these logs to skirt hours of service regulations that cap how many hours they can operate. As we have discussed in previous blogs, drowsy truckers are much more likely to cause accidents.Roadside safety inspectors could view information on ELDs to determine whether drivers are over their hours of service limits. In addition, attorneys or law enforcement could pull ELD data to determine who is at fault in an accident.Both ELDs and ECMs are important for proving negligence after a trucking accident. These devices can show whether truckers were violating hours of service rules or speeding. For these reasons, the data collected by ELDs and ECMs are often used as evidence in truck accident cases.

Commercial Carriers May Tamper with the Electronic Control Module

Commercial carriers may try to destroy ECM data to shed themselves of liability. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a truck accident, it is extremely important to contact an attorney right away. Your attorney could take steps to file a protective order that would prevent the destruction of ECM or ELD data. A court order could also prevent access or tampering with the truck involved in your accident.Remember, the data collected by ECMs and ELDs may be crucial for ensuring that you receive the care and resources needed to recover from your injuries or loss. Mike Love & Associates, LLC not only has experience handling truck accident cases, Mike Love is the former owner of a trucking company!The Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can help people who have been harmed by negligent commercial carriers and truckers.

Can New Auto Technology Prevent Truck Accidents?

New automotive technology looks promising to prevent car accidents. Collision avoidance and lane departure systems are becoming standard features on many vehicles sold in the United States. These technologies promise to prevent the ‘human error’ factor involved in most car accidents.Can these same technologies prevent accidents involving large semi-trucks? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tested some of these technologies on commercial trucks with great results!If we look at causes of truck accidents involving human error, the benefits of these technologies become apparent. Lane departure warning systems can alert sleepy commercial truckers if they begin to depart from the road. Collision avoidance systems can automatically brake for tired commercial truck drivers. Another new technology can automatically steer during emergency situations.Collision avoidance systems are among the most exciting of the new technologies being considered for use on commercial trucks. This technology uses radar systems to detect moving, stopped and stationary objects. Collision avoidance systems also use audible and visual warnings to alert drivers.Do collision avoidance systems work? After all, we wrote about a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S several weeks ago. The vehicle had Autopilot (which incorporates collision avoidance technology) active at the time of the crash. However, the collision avoidance systems used by Tesla’s vehicles are different than what commercial trucks may use.Testing conducted by NHTSA shows collision avoidance systems on trucks may be highly effective at preventing accidents.

NHTSA Tests Collision Avoidance Technology on Commercial Trucks

NHTSA equipped 150 Class 8 tractor-trailers with collision avoidance systems. To test the effectiveness of these systems, NHTSA recorded results for one year. More than 165 drivers were involved in the study.The data involved 6,000 collision avoidance system activations, 3 million miles and 110,000 hours of driving! According to the results published by NHTSA in its report, Field Study of Heavy-Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems: Final Report, none of the 6,000 activations resulted in collisions.So there you have it, these technologies can at the very least help to prevent truck accidents. If we consider that drowsy driving and driver inattention are a major cause of truck accidents, the benefits of collision avoidance technology are obvious. Some companies have plans to utilize collision avoidance and lane departure systems. Volvo claims it will use both on its VN series trucks.NHTSA statistics show that 3,903 people died and another 111,000 were injured in truck accidents during 2014. New technologies on trucks may greatly reduce these numbers and make driving much safer for everyone.The Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC, will hold negligent commercial carriers accountable when they cause accidents.