Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

54 year old Kansas City tow truck driver Floyd R. Helton caused a Kanas City Missouri tow truck accident while intoxicated. According to reports, Helton ran a stop sign at Ninth and Wyandotte streets late Saturday afternoon. Helton crashed into an SUV after running the stop sign. The Kansas City tow truck accident resulted in hip and pelvis pain for the SUV driver. Law enforcement authorities found beer and an empty beer bottle in the tow truck after the Kansas City Missouri tow truck accident.

Prosecutors are charging Helton with second-degree assault and driving with a revoked driver’s license. Reports do not indicate whether Helton will be charged with driving while intoxicated.

Missouri statute §304.154 regulates tow truck company operation in Missouri. Missouri law imposes six minimum standards for towing companies. Trucking companies must 1) have a business address; 2) have secured storage for motor vehicles; 3) be available 24/7; 4) maintain accident insurance; 5) provide worker’s compensation insurance; and 6) maintain registrations for towing trucks.

Missouri counties may create stricter standards for towing truck companies. For example, St. Louis County heightens the regulations for towing truck companies. St. Louis County requires that detailed tow truck licenses include information helpful to accident victims who may want to sue the tow truck company. Corporate tow truck owners must list their state of incorporation and the address of their principal place of business. Accident victims may need that information to sue the defendant towing company in the proper jurisdiction.

State representatives have attempted to raise the statewide minimum standards for towing companies. House Bill 629 (HB629) was introduced to the Missouri House of Representatives. If passed, HB629 would require higher minimum coverage for insurance and stricter licensing. However, the proposed legislation was opposed by tow truck lobbyists. In fact, the Missouri Tow Truck Association specifically opposed the higher standards and used membership dues to pay the lobbying fees. HB629 was not signed into law.

Continue reading "Kansas City Drunk Driving Tow Truck Accident Leads to Charges" »

A Clinton, Missouri woman sustained injuries in a Missouri trucking accident after a tractor trailer reversed into her at 8:15am on April 8, 2011.

Truck driver Jordan T. Nelson, 22, of Altamont, Illinois reversed at a traffic signal on Business 13 just south of MO-7 in Henry County, Missouri. Nelson crashed a 1997 Peterbilt into the vehicle of Terry L. England, 50, of Clinton, Missouri. The 2003 Ford Focus that England drove sustained extensive damage in the Missouri truck accident.

Crystal M. Freeman, an occupant of England’s car, was injured in the Missouri big rig accident. The 30-year-old from Clinton, Missouri was taken to Golden Valley Hospital by a private vehicle. Freeman was reportedly not wearing her safety device. The Highway Patrol did not report any injuries for England or Nelson, who wore their safety devices.

Under Missouri law, failure to wear a seatbelt may reduce the damages for the victim in a negligence claim. Missouri is a comparative negligence state, meaning that the defendant may pay reduced damages after a Missouri trucking accident if the accident victim was partially at fault. The reduction in damages is typically in proportion to the percentage of fault assigned to the victim. For example, if the damage award is $10,000 and the accident victim was 50% at fault for the accident, the accident victim would only be compensated $5,000. The defendant can use failure to wear a seat belt as evidence of comparative negligence.

Missouri statute §307.178 determines how failure to wear a seat belt can be used as evidence of Missouri comparative negligence. The defendant must introduce expert evidence that the accident victim’s injuries were partially caused by the failure to wear a seat belt. The court may find that the victim’s failure to wear a seat belt contributed to the injuries and reduce the victim’s compensation. In Missouri, failure to wear a seat belt may reduce the victim’s compensation by up to 1% of the damages.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailer Crash Injures Clinton Missouri Woman while Backing Up" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed making permanent the interim ban on texting while driving for tractor trailer drivers. The new rule would punish drivers or companies that don't observe the texting ban with civil penalties and possible loss of license.

In January, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced an immediate ban on text messaging by commercial truck drivers while behind the wheel. The measure was only an interim rule, however, and more permanent legislation was not proposed until last month.

The importance of limiting distracted driving is emphasized when you look at the statistics provided by FMCSA research. Distracted driving is a major cause of tractor trailer accidents with texting being some of the more negligently distracting behaviors you can engage in. You are more than 20 times more likely to cause a serious accident if you are attempting to send or receive a text message. On average, a driver sending a text will take their eyes off the road for 4.6 out of every 6 seconds. This means that a driver traveling at 55 mph will take their eyes off the road long enough to travel the length of a football field every 6 seconds.

This measure is just one of many around the county to limit traffic injuries and fatalities caused by distracted driving. Here in Missouri, minors have been barred from texting and driving. Last year, President Obama signed an order saying all federal employees were restricted from texting while operated government vehicles or on government business.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Department of Transportation have amended safety regulations relating to the use of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) on tractor trailers. The new rules, which go into effect June 4, will update specifications for such devices and mandate that some trucking companies with multiple violations of the Hours of Service regulations install an EOBR.

EOBRs are devices or a series of recorders built into the truck's existing on-board electronics that track the patterns of the driver to make sure he or she is complying with Hours of Service regulations. Currently, the use of EOBRs is completely voluntary.

A company will need to have a 10 percent violation rate in order for the mandate to apply. Should a company reach this violation rate, all of their commercial trucks will need to be fitted with a regulation compliant EOBR for two years.

Many companies already use some type of electronic tracking to voluntarily enforce the Hours of Service regulations. These rules are important because they prohibit drivers from overworking themselves to the point of fatigue. Numerous studies show that driver fatigue is a significant contributor to serious tractor trailer crashes.

Many in the commercial trucking industry have speculated that we will eventually move to regulations that require all trucking companies, regardless of their violation history, to install EOBRs on their fleet of trucks. Some opponents feel that this will create an unfair financial burden on companies. Others point to the fact that many companies already use similar devices or have thousands of dollars of on-board electronics already.

The new ruling represents a nice compromise for the moment. Only the companies that have repeatedly demonstrated a negligent pattern of behavior will be mandated to install the devices at the moment. Hopefully targeting this high-risk group of trucking companies will successfully limit the number of tractor trailer accident fatalities caused by fatigued driving.

The regulations governing the trucking industry are under constant debate in the industry. In an effort to reduce tractor trailer crash deaths and injuries here in Missouri and across the country, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration makes these regulations, which are often fought by the trucking industry.

A few of these regulations in particular could see some changes in the coming months and years. The first is the weight limit for trucks on federal highways. Currently, the maximum allowable weight for a truck is 80,000 pounds, but advocates for the trucking industry want to push that number as high as 97,000 pounds. They argue that by increasing the weight limit, they can lower the number of trucks on the road which will lower the number of potential accidents and help the industry financially through the recession.

Opponents of the weight restriction increase argue that trucks are already incredibly dangerous at 80,000 pounds. Increasing the weight will only increase the damage done when something inevitably goes wrong. We have already discussed on the blog a St. Louis area tractor trailer crash on Highway 40 that saw a big rig plow through 10 cars. How many more cars, and how many more lives, could it have destroyed if it weighed an additional 17,000 pounds?

Another area of regulation that is up for debate is the Hours of Service regulations. These are put in place to limit the number of hours a driver can work, thus limiting the number of fatigued truckers with dangerously slow reaction times due to lack of sleep. Some argue the current laws are too lax and the number of consecutive hours a driver can work should be reduced further. Again, the trucking companies see this as delaying shipments and increasing costs, so they are largely against it.

The Comprehensive Safety Analysis initiative is a program from the FMCSA to reduce crashes and it also may lead to changes in the industry. One possible result of the initiative is stricter guidelines for hiring and retaining safe drivers. Some industry representatives support the initiative, but others worry about the financial repercussions of limiting the pool of drivers.

Any rule changes made by the FMCSA would ostensibly be made with the interest of safety at heart. Most of the objections from the industry have to do with financial concerns and they believe they can police themselves. From the point of view of a Missouri truck accident lawyer, I’m not sure what the perfect weight of a truck should be or the safest amount of hours a driver can work effectively. That’s for the FMCSA to decide. It is clear, though, that with 4,000 people dying every year in truck accidents, even with the current rules in place, the industry can’t police itself.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has officially banned employees from sending text messages while driving MoDOT vehicles or while on the clock in their own vehicles.

The new policy is designed to reduce the number of large truck accidents in Missouri. It comes on the heels of a recent statewide law that bans all drivers under 21 from texting and driving.

As we’ve discussed previously here on the blog, distractions for drivers are a major cause of serious truck and tractor trailer accidents. Texting drivers are 23 times more likely to cause an accident than a focused driver. This rule change by MoDOT is a step in the right direction.

The policy won’t be enough on its own, though, to significantly cut down on accidents here in Missouri. Private trucking companies and their drivers also need to be held accountable when they cause a serious accident because a text message or cell phone caused a distraction. If you have been involved in an accident of this type, contact a Missouri trucking accident lawyer to discuss your case.

By now, you've probably heard about the two pilots for Delta Air Lines who have been dismissed after they overshot their destination by 150 miles due, supposedly, to them being distracted by their laptops. Fortunately, no serious incident occurred and the plane landed safely in Minneapolis-St. Paul. FAA regulations prohibit the use of laptops in the cockpit for this very reason and more deadly incidents are prevented because of these stricter rules.

This is not so on our roadways. Every year, thousands of people die in car accidents and tractor trailer crashes caused by distracted drivers who were talking on a cell phone or playing with some other electronic device. While some individual states and cities have taken the lead on reducing the distractions by banning cell phones while driving, in most areas there are no such laws and seeing someone multi-tasking when they should simply be driving is a regular occurrence.

The dangers are multiplied for tractor trailer drivers who have to maintain control of vehicles stretching dozens of feet long and weighing thousands of pounds. Yet still, even commercial truck drivers are regularly guilty of losing focus on the road because they are talking or texting and sometimes this has fatal consequences. One of the larger tractor trailer crashes in the St. Louis area occurred on Highway 40 last year when a truck driver, apparently distracted by his cell phone, plowed through ten other cars that were stopped for traffic. Three people were killed and more were seriously injured.

Despite tragic incidents like the Highway 40 crash, the FMCSA has not completely banned the use of cell phones or other electronic distractions by tractor trailer drivers while driving. In fact, many big rig drivers regularly use on-board computers to update their company of their progress and track their routes.

Studies have repeatedly shown that these types of distractions are dangerous. Drivers using those on-board computers are approximately ten times more likely to be involved in a crash. Texting drivers are 23 times as likely to crash. Even drivers who use hands-free phones have been proven to be as impaired as drunken drivers.

Drivers and their companies that continue these negligent policies of allowing distractions in the cabin must be held accountable when those same distractions result in serious accidents. If you or a family member has been involved in such a crash, contact an experienced Missouri tractor trailer accident attorney as soon as possible so that they can begin to investigate your case.

Tractor trailer drivers are responsible for safely driving an extremely large vehicle that could be hauling thousands of pounds of cargo. Because of their size, these large trucks can cause significant personal injury in an accident. These risk factors mean a truck driver has to remain extra alert and vigilant. Unfortunately, driver fatigue is a problem that leads to hundreds of Missouri tractor trailer crashes each year. Drivers, who are paid by the mile, were giving up sleep and driving on short rest in order to complete shipments faster.

To help control driver fatigue, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration set the Hours of Service guidelines for drivers. Some of these rules include:

- Truck drivers can only drive up to 11 consecutive hours and only after 10 consecutive hours off duty.

- Truck drivers can be on duty (working but not necessarily driving) for 14 consecutive hours and are not able to drive after the 14th hour.

- In a 7 day span, the maximum on duty time is 60 hours. Drivers may also choose to work 70 hours across 8 days.

- After a 7-8 day working period, the driver must take 34 consecutive hours off duty.

The FMCSA says these rules will prevent thousands of accidents nationwide and ultimately save lives. One in five truck drivers have admitted to driving under extreme fatigue or even nodding off at the wheel.

In order to make sure drivers adhere to the hours of service rules, they must keep an accurate log of their driving. After an accident, it is essential that this log is quickly investigated by a tractor trailer accident lawyer since many companies will destroy these logs after a certain of amount of time.

Some Missouri officials are debating a plan to limit catastrophic tractor trailer crashes and the serious personal injury that comes with them by adding extra truck-only lanes to Interstate 70, according to a report in the Kansas City Star.

The Star reports that officials have completed a study that suggests adding four lanes to I-70 that would be set aside for tractor trailers and other large shipping vehicles. These lanes would make up the center of the highway, with other traffic allowed to drive in the outer lanes.

The plan is still in the very early stages, but it appears likely that if the new lanes were to be added, Missouri highway planners would have them run nearly the entire length of I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis, stopping somewhere just outside of the two metro areas.

Missouri’s plan is pretty unique, according to The Star’s report, as no other state has truck-only lanes on the scope that local officials have proposed.

Tractor trailer congestion has become a problem on Missouri roadways, especially I-70. Analysts are predicting that traffic could double on I-70 in the next 20 years. Missouri already sees over 8,000 tractor trailer crashes each year and as a Missouri tractor trailer accident lawyer who studies these cases, I know many result in serious personal injury or wrongful death. This number will only rise with the increase in traffic.