Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Two different semi trucks were involved in accidents in the Jacksonville, Florida area yesterday after they overturned on the highways, according to an article on www.News4jax.com.  One of the trucks overturned near downtown Jacksonville as it tried to make a turn too quickly, according to the article.  Inexperienced truck drivers and/or drivers who are not careful may not have the training and skills to make difficult turns and take into account the speed, size and weight of the tractor trailers.  Additionally, the load in the tractor may shift during transport and increase the likelihood that a tractor trailer overturns during a sharp turn that the driver is not prepared to make safely.  Adding to the dangerousness of one of yesterday's truck accidents was the fact that the semi truck was carrying a highly corrosive chemical in its trailer.  Fortunately, the chemical did not spill and cause any burns or other injuries.

Injury accidents caused by semi trucks overturning are a serious problem.  The federal regulations which govern semi truck drivers and try to improve safety among them address the need for truck drivers to take hands-on road tests before they are given jobs to drive a semi truck out on the roads.  Some of the skills that should be covered during a road test are the ability to deal with a fully loaded trailer and a load that can shift as it is being driven and safely turning a fully loaded tractor trailer.  Unfortunately, after injury accidents, we find that trucking companies and semi truck drivers often ignore the road test requirements which can lead to semi truck drivers on the roads who are not sufficiently trained and skilled to safely drive the vehicle under all conditions they may face.

In order for a semi truck driver to safely and legally operate a semi truck on the roads, he or she must be physically qualified to do so.  That means the semi truck driver must see a certified medical professional who must examine the semi truck driver and confirm that he/she is healthy enough to drive a commercial motor vehicle. 

Unfortunately, there are numerous semi truck drivers out on the roads with commercial driver's licenses (CDL's) who are not healthy enough to drive and are causing serious injury accidents and fatal accidents.  Semi truck drivers falling asleep, having a heart attack or seizure or suffering from some other physical impairment were a leading cause of accidents involving semi trucks according to a federal study last year.  According to a recent article from the Associated Press, there are hundreds of thousands of semi truck drivers with CDL's who are receiving full disability benefits due to their health problems.  Truck drivers are having seizures, heart attacks and unconscious or dizzy spells while driving semi trucks and posing a serious threat to the safety of other drivers on the roads. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the government agency responsible for regulating the trucking industry and trying to prevent serious injury and fatal accidents involving semi trucks.  According to the article, the FMCSA has failed to set the proper standards to make sure semi truck drivers are healthy enough to drive a semi truck.  For instance, there is no minimum standard for who can determine whether a semi truck driver is healthy enough to drive.  Additionally, there is no regulation preventing doctor shopping so semi truck drivers are allowed to go to whichever doctor they know, from talking to other semi truck drivers, will sign off on their medical certificate.

According to the Associated Press review of commercial motor vehicle driver violations, Florida has one of the highest rates of medical rules violations in the U.S.

If you have been injured in an accident with a semi truck or any other vehicle and make a claim for your damages, the lawyer for the insurance company on the other side will look for any possible way to avoid paying for your claim and save money for the insurance company.  One way that is being accomplished successfully in injury cases is through the discovery of posts and pictures on social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace.  Facebook, Myspace and similar websites are great ways for people to stay in touch with friends and family members to let them know what is happening in their lives on a constant basis.  However, the messages, comments and pictures that are posted on these websites can be used against a person who is making  claim for damages as a result of an injury accident.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the government entity responsible for regulating semi truck drivers and trucking companies to make the roadways as safe as possible and try to prevent injuries and fatalities caused by semi truck accidents.  The FMCSA's performance in regulating the trucking industry was recently evaluated by the Senate Appropriations Committee with unsatisfactory results.  The report indicated that the FMCSA showed a "pattern of undermining its safety mission by proposing weak regulations and failing to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of existing regulations." 

Specifically, the report criticizes the FMCSA's inability to settle on a feasible hours of service rule which regulates the number of hours a truck driver can drive consecutively, and over a certain period of time, to avoid dangerously fatigued drivers operating heavy tractor trailers on the roads.  The report also criticizes regulations related to the standard for obtaining a commercial driver's license (CDL) and effective drug testing of truck drivers.  All commercial motor vehicle drivers are required to pass a test and acquire certain knowledge regarding truck driving and the federal regulations before they drive a semi truck.  Additionally, semi truck drivers are required to take a drug test before they are hired to drive a semi truck and after any accident that they cause or contribute to that causes injury or serious property damage.  However, those drug testing regulations are poorly enforced in terms of making sure truck drivers take the drug tests and penalizing those who either do not take the test or fail the test.  Alarmingly, there is often no recourse for a semi truck driver who either refuses to take a drug test or fails a drug test after causing a serious injury accident.

The Canadian government recently finished a study to determine the pros and cons of placing speed limiters on trucks.  The legislature in Ontario, Canada has recently approved a law that requires semi trucks to have a device that limits their speed to 65 miles per hour.

The study regarding the safety of placing speed limiters on semi trucks driving on the highways showed mixed results.  Regarding safety and the number of accidents, the study found that the speed limiting device would likely increase safety when the roads were not congested.  However, in areas of increased traffic, speed limiters on semi trucks may actually increase the number of accidents.  Additionally, if the speed limiters caused more vehicles to pass a semi truck, that could certainly increase the number of serious accidents. 

Apparently, 33 other countries have laws that mandate speed limiters, however no studies have been done to determine whether these speed limiters have improved safety conditions on the roads and reduced accidents.  There are no such laws in Florida or anywhere else in the U.S. 

The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently gave a speech and provided recommendations to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal motor vehicle accidents on the roads in the U.S.  The speech focused on improving education, enforcement and engineering solutions related to improving safety among drivers. 

Among the specific recommendations cited to reduce serious injury and fatal accidents were: booster seats for children ages 8 and under, enacting primary seat belt laws (When a seat belt violation is a primary law, a police officer is allowed to stop a driver based on that offense alone.  In Florida, a seat belt violation is a secondary law which means a police officer may not pull a driver over for the seat belt violation alone but may pull a driver over for other reasons and give the driver an additional ticket for failing to wear the seat belt.), enacting restrictions on teen driving and teens driving with other inexperienced, young drivers and enacting laws to prohibit the use of cell phones and other mobile communication devices while driving. 

A recent study of motor vehicle accidents by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) showed that 41% of motor vehicle accident fatality resulted from a vehicle departing from its lane.  Nationwide, of the approximately 42,000 people who die in auto accidents each year, almost 60% die in accidents that involve a lane departure.  About 40% of fatal auto accidents involve a single vehicle that leaves its lane and/or the road.  In 2006, Florida had the third highest number of lane departure fatalities among all of the states. 

The AASHTO provided several recommendations to reduce the number of lane departure accidents and fatalities.  These include: flattening curves in the roads, installing shoulder and center line rumble strips that alert drivers to the fact that they are in danger of driving off of the road, enhance the conspicuity of sharp curves, eliminate shoulder drop offs that make it more difficult for vehicles that have left the road to return to the road, provide skid resistant pavement and remove fixed objects like trees and utility poles from the areas adjacent to the road.

Semi truck (aka tractor trailer and 18 wheeler) drivers are required to take drug tests under certain situations pursuant to federal regulations.  Semi truck drivers are supposed to take a drug test prior to starting a job as a commercial truck driver.  They are also required to take a drug and alcohol test after causing or contributing to an injury accident and/or an accident that results in serious property damage that incapacitates another vehicle.  However, the lack of regulation and attention paid to these rules and the manner in which drug tests are handled result in some semi truck drivers failing to take the required drug test or cheating the test.  It is not uncommon for a semi truck driver to cause a serious injury or fatal accident and then fail to submit to a drug test without any repercussions.  It is up to the semi truck driver and his/her employer to have the driver take the test.  Both of them may have an incentive to avoid the test and plead ignorance regarding the drug testing requirement.  Another scenario that is not uncommon occurs when a truck driver either submits to the drug test well after the drugs are no longer in his/her system, brings someone else's urine to the test for submission or brings a substance to place in his/her urine sample that will mask the presence of drugs.

A new rule issued by the Department of Transportation makes it mandatory for drug testing labs to test all urine samples for the presence of any adulterating substances and also allows employees at the testing facility to observe the urine collection process if they suspect foul play.

The new federal rule for the drug testing of semi truck drivers will not address the problem of truck drivers avoiding drug tests altogether but should help the process of making sure that drug testing results are more accurate when urine samples are collected.

Here is an interesting article suggesting that the numerous road signs in the United States make driving more unsafe and cause more injury accidents as they direct the attention of drivers away from the road.  Basically, his theory is that the more attention that is paid to traffic signs, police and the speedometer, the less attention is paid to other vehicles and traffic conditions, and it only takes a second of inattention to cause a serious injury accident.  The writer cites to a study done by statistician R. J. Smeed who tried to determine what factors caused an increase in serious motor vehicle accidents.  According to his study, the number of deaths per year from motor vehicle accidents could be fairly predicted by looking at the number of people and cars and trucks on the roads.  Neither the rules and regulations in the area nor the quality of the roads were major factors in predicting fatal accidents, although the significant progress made in the area of safety equipment in motor vehicles has had a significant impact in the number and seriousness of injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents.

Apparently, in a few towns and neighborhoods in Europe where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic, all street signs and traffic control devices have been removed.  According to the article, these areas have seen fewer accidents involving pedestrians.  The article does not suggest the same solution for the U.S., but believes that it would be safer to have traffic signs on the road so a driver's attention is not constantly focused off of the road. 

The idea that traffic signs actually create more danger on the roads is not one most people are accustomed to hearing.  The point is well taken that a driver's attention should be focused on the road and the other vehicles on the road.  An adjustment that helps people know when to slow, stop or drive a certain way that keeps their attention on the road is certainly something to consider.