Injuries caused by large truck crashes are on the rise. There may be many causes for truck crashes, but the results are clear. Death and serious injury abound.
An operator of a commercial motor vehicle (which includes a semi tractor trailer, dump truck, box truck, flatbed or the like) is required to follow the Rules of the Road. For professional truck drivers, the rules are comprised, in part, in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations as well as the laws and ordinances of any particular jurisdiction.
Below is an excerpt summarizing how the rules affect consumers, drivers, pedestrians and even truck drivers themselves. Additional information and links below address foreign drivers (Mexico/Canada), NAFTA, Safety Audit, Visual Issues and Safety and Warnings, including reflective tape. Should you have a question about an injury or death caused by a truck driver or commercial motor vehicle carrier, please contact Indianapolis, Indiana truck crash lawyer, Dan Chamberlain, toll free at 800-269-3443.
In 1991, the U.S. Congress enacted the Intermodal. Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to address, in part, the explosive growth of the transportation industry.(1) In an effort to protect the public, the act restricted the length and the number of trailers hauled by truck drivers. Most tractor trailers are 65 feet long, and in dual or triple combination the overall length may stretch to the ISTEA maximum of 110 feet, the same as an average city block.
Despite ISTEA's safety pledge, trucks continue killing and injuring America's citizens. In 1996, nearly 393,000 large trucks(2) were involved in traffic crashes in the United States.(3) Large trucks represent only 3 percent of all registered motor vehicles in this country, yet they are responsible for 22 percent of all deaths in multiple vehicle collisions.(4)
On October 1, 1997, the Congress unanimously reauthorized ISTEA for six months. The chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), favors replacing the act with the Building Efficient Surface Transportation and Equity Act. Should Congress do this, the present restriction on the length, weight, and number of trailers will be rescinded. This will result in more rollovers, jackknifed vehicles, turn instability, and increased stopping distance due to greater length and weight of vehicles. Public safety will be compromised.
The dangers associated with large trucks traveling on public thoroughfares were recognized as early as 1935. That year, Congress enacted the Motor Carrier Act, which created the Bureau of Motor Carriers of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).(5) The commission was charged with developing and enforcing safety regulations in the trucking industry. In response to the charge, the commission developed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR).(6)
The 1980s brought extensive deregulation of the trucking industry, and licensing and monitoring of professional truck drivers have been transferred to the states. The FMCSR remains the sole safety standard that professional truck drivers and motor carriers must follow in operating commercial motor vehicles.
The purpose of the FMCSR is to "help reduce or prevent truck and bus accidents, fatalities, and injuries by requiring drivers to have a single commercial motor vehicle driver's license and by disqualifying drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles in an unsafe manner."(7) A commercial driver's license (CDL) is required by the federal government but issued by the state. It requires advanced levels of knowledge and operating skill. The written exam for a CDL tests not only driving rules and safety but also an understanding of air brake systems, hazardous materials, and pre-trip inspection procedures.
Drivers may hold only a single CDL issued by their home state, thus ending the once common practice of obtaining multiple licenses to circumvent license suspensions or revocations in a particular jurisdiction. Information is centralized in the Commercial Driver's License Information System, which is accessible to state motor vehicle licensing agencies. Applicants for a commercial license can be routinely checked through this system.
The regulations apply to everyone who operates a commercial motor vehicle in interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce, and to all their employers. Each professional truck driver and motor carrier is required to comply with FMCSR §§ 383, 390-397, and 399 at all times.(8) The preface of the FMCSR booklet proclaims that "safety is no accident."
Truck drivers and motor carriers may be jointly and severally liable for violating the regulations. In most jurisdictions, a violation of a statute or ordinance adopted for the public's safety may be negligence per se and may establish the violator's civil liability. Before the negligence per se doctrine can apply, injured parties must show they are members of the class that the statute or ordinance was intended to protect.
In addition, an injured party must show that the injuries suffered were of the kind that the statute was enacted to prevent. Further, the party must show that the statute or ordinance prescribes or pro scribes the conduct at issue and that this conduct proximately caused the alleged harm.(9) For example, 49 C.F.R. § 392.2 requires that hazard warning flashers must be used when a truck breaks down or stops on the traveled part of the road or the shoulder.
Most states recognize the doctrine of negligence per se in areas of established statutory law, including building codes, motor vehicle safety statutes, motor vehicle and safety ordinances, and state liquor liability codes.(10)
The use of the FMCSR may be an important tool to establish liability in truck cases and to show how the negligent conduct of the truck driver and the motor carrier contributed to or caused the collision.
Sections of the FMCSR most regularly used in litigation against defendants are as follows:
§383 Minimum uniform commercial driver's license requirements: drug testing; required knowledge and skills; federal disqualification; employer responsibilities; requirements to obtain a driver's license.
§385 Safety fitness procedures.
§387 Minimum levels of insurance coverage: $750,000 per carrier operating in interstate commerce; and $1 million per carrier if the carrier transports hazardous cargo in interstate commerce.(11)
§390 Trucking company minimum requirements. (Carriers are subject to federal on-site review of vehicle inspection and maintenance procedures and records, driver qualifications and hours of service compliance, accident histories, and related subjects. Carriers receive a "safety fitness" rating: Certain aspects of the company's operating authority can be terminated for carriers that are judged unsatisfactory.)(12)
§391 Qualifications of drivers.
§392 Operation of motor vehicles.
§393 Vehicle options necessary for safe operation.
§395 Driver's hours of operation (including maximum hours on-duty, off-duty, and in sleeper berth).
§396 Inspection, repair, and maintenance of vehicles.
§397 Transportation of hazardous materials; driving requirements and parking rules.
The FMCSR establishes minimum safety standards for trucking companies and professional truck drivers. Merely because a company and a driver satisfy the standards does not obviate their responsibility to meet a higher standard of care that is reasonable under the circumstances.
Driver qualifications
Trucking companies have a nondelegable duty to hire only qualified operators. A qualified driver must satisfy the following criteria:(13)
1. Be at least 21 years old.
2. Be able to read and speak English.
3. By reason of experience or training, be able to safely operate the vehicle.
4. By reason of experience or training, be able to determine whether cargo is securely loaded.
5. Be physically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). (A medical examiner must perform a thorough physical examination to determine if the driver is qualified.)(14)
6. Hold a valid commercial driver's license.
7. Complete an application form for employment.(15)
8. Complete a driving test in the type of vehicle the applicant will be expected to operate.(16)
9. Pass a written examination.
10. Be deemed qualified to operate a CMV (for example, must not have committed a criminal or other offense).
Defendant drivers who fail to satisfy one or more of these criteria subject themselves and the motor carrier to a viable punitive damages claim.(17)
Within 30 days after the initial hire, the carrier must submit an inquiry to every state agency that has issued a CDL to the driver during the last three years." A motor carrier must also investigate the driver's employment record for the previous three years. All materials obtained in the investigation must be maintained in the driver's employment file.
After the initial hire and investigation are completed, the carrier has a continuing duty to supervise drivers. A carrier must conduct an annual review of each driver's driving record and obtain a list of the operator's traffic violations.(19)
The carrier must also closely monitor the hours that its drivers work to ensure that they file correct logs and do not operate a CMV for more than the maximum number of hours.(20) Further, carriers are prohibited from encouraging drivers to speed or otherwise violate the FMCSR.(21)
All carriers are required to inspect, repair, and maintain vehicles subject to their control.(22) Carriers are also required to maintain repair records and perform periodic vehicle inspections.
Motor carriers may be liable for their violation of these regulations under the theories of negligent entrustment, negligent hiring and retention, and negligent vehicle maintenance.
Drivers, likewise, are obligated to comply with the FMCSR.(23) They must operate vehicles subject to the regulations "in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the jurisdiction in which [the vehicle] is being operated."(24) Drivers are prohibited from operating a semitrailer when they are tired or ill or are so impaired that they cannot operate one safely.(25) Drivers are also required to report FMCSR and traffic violations to the carrier as part of a self-reporting program.(26)
Leased trucks
In circumstances involving a semitrailer that the carrier does not own, the carrier and the driver must sign a written lease agreement.(27) The agreement must include the following:
1. The names of the parties.
2. The duration of the lease, including the time and date it begins and ends.
3. The amount the carrier will pay the driver.
4. The assumption that the carrier exclusively possesses and controls the semitrailer's equipment.
5. The obligation of the driver to display the carrier's placard or sign on the truck identifying the carrier by name and including the ICC number issued to the carrier by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
6. A provision for termination of the lease and removal of the placard from the vehicle.
Generally, the motor carrier is vicariously liable for all acts of the driver while he or she is operating the semitrailer with the placard attached to the truck.(28)
In severe crashes, it may be prudent to search for additional entities partly or wholly responsible for the collision. For example, a company that loaded its goods into a trailer may be liable for damages caused by the negligent loading or configuring of the trailer if the contents shift and cause the vehicle to lose control or the contents fall on people unloading it.(29)
Also, an insurance company and/or claims management service that participated in approving or denying the hiring of a driver for the carrier may also be liable under the Restatement of Torts § 324(a).(30)
Finally, a carrier that negligently provided a qualification certificate under 49 C.F.R. § 391.65 indicating the driver was qualified to operate a semitrailer on a trip lease--a lease for one load or one day--may be liable even though the carrier is not a party to the ultimate lease agreement.
Litigation Tips Involving Professional Truck Carriers and Drivers
In truck crash litigation, it is important to immediately secure all evidence that may otherwise be lost, destroyed, or unavailable later. For example, the FMCSR requires all drivers to complete a log book (also known as Record of Duty Status) to document the number of hours the driver has operated the truck, been off duty, and been on duty but not driving. The FMCSR established timetables for drivers to file records with the motor carrier within 13 days of completing the approved log or form.(31) The driver's home terminal must keep the log book until the 20th day of the next calendar month. The book is then forwarded to the carrier's principal place of business and retained for six months.(32)
Immediately after a crash, trucking company representatives and its accident reconstruction experts will secure the semitrailer and perform the background investigation. Critical evidence inside the truck, including beer cans, pep pills, cellular telephones, magazines, and duplicate log books, may be removed. The truck itself may be sold for scrap and destroyed before an attorney is even consulted by members of the victim's family to protect their interests.
Safety at risk
The FMCSR, ISTEA, and state regulations require professional truck drivers to comply with specific rules designed to protect public safety and to disqualify unsafe drivers from operating semitrailers. Should the U.S. Congress further deregulate the trucking industry, there will be even larger, longer, and heavier trucks on our public thoroughfares. Professional truck drivers may be inadequately trained to safely handle the new rigs.
If these monster trucks start traveling the roadways, the number of truck-car crashes will probably increase and more innocent people will be injured or lose their lives. Please click here for all footnotes.
If you've been wrongfully injured in a large truck accident, contact Indiana and North Carolina truck crash and injury lawyer, Dan Chamberlain to see how he can help. 800-269-3443.
Learn more about the following truck crash issues:
Retroreflective Tape
Vision Issues/Conspicuity/Visual Acuity
Tractor Trailer, Semi, Dump Truck, Bus or other Commercial Motor Vehicle Litigation Tips
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