Truck Driver Fatigue

Austin, Texas

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The Battle Over Hours of Service Safety

A December 2007 report from National Public Radio revealed the tensions involved in deciding how many hours were too many for truck drivers behind the wheel at any one stretch. While the Department of Transportation (DOT) stood behind the safety of 11 hours of driving followed by 10 hours of rest, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims that the risk of a crash doubles from truck driver fatigue after as few as eight to ten hours of driving.

Undocumented Work Hours

For many trucker drivers, their work doesn’t stop when they reach their destinations. They often have to remain on unpaid duty while the trailer is unloaded or loaded. Some companies require the driver to assist with the unloading or loading. Again, this is unpaid time and work, added to driving time, but it is not logged as duty time. This isn’t addressed in the FMCSR Hours of Service regulations.

The Snowball Effect

It isn’t hard to see why many truck drivers become fatigued and cause accidents. Reflexes are slowed as drivers tire, increasing the stopping distances for these huge vehicles. Many truckers admit to nodding off at the wheel, and most admit to fatigue after seven or eight hours of driving. The size and weight of tractor-trailer rigs traveling at any speed poses a deadly danger to pedestrians and passengers in the smaller personal vehicles.

Because truck driver fatigue is avoidable, it can easily constitute negligence. A tired truck driver may not check his/her rig as carefully as required, adding an additional safety hazard. Road and weather conditions add other dimensions to the danger, as do many other factors such as loads shifting or tire blowouts. Drivers are entirely responsible to manage all of these situations, and to drive accordingly. This is more difficult to do when fatigued.

For accident victims, findings of such negligence can justify compensation. The personal injury, wrongful death and accident attorneys at Gonzales & Gonzales are experienced in investigating the causes of truck accidents and discovering whether driver fatigue was a contributing factor to an accident.

Whether the damage was minimal or excessive, we want our clients to know that no amount of injury or damage should have taken place, period. And we show our commitment to them by working tirelessly to obtain a settlement that compensates them fully.

If you were injured in a trucking accident in the Austin, Texas area and suspect truck driver fatigue contributed to the accident please contact the experienced Texas truck accident attorneys Gonzales & Gonzales