Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

As employers, trucking companies are liable for the damages caused by Missouri trucking accidents. This liability is the result of the extent to which trucking companies affect traffic safety through the hiring, training, and supervision of truck drivers. Trucking companies hire truck drivers to operate large commercial motor vehicles on public roadways. Trucking companies are usually involved in the training of truck drivers. Trucking companies are principally responsible for supervising the safety of truck drivers. Trucking companies are additionally responsible for the maintenance of the large trucking vehicles that are operated by truck drivers.

Trucking companies play a large role in nationwide traffic safety, so trucking companies may be liable for negligent hiring, supervision, and training. For example, a trucking company may be found liable for negligently hiring if it knowingly hired truck drivers without valid licenses. Hiring a truck driver without performing a background check may be considered negligent hiring. Ignoring red flags on a truck driver’s record may also be negligent.

In order to help the trucking industry hire safe truck drivers with clean records, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has created the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP). The PSP is operated by the United States Department of Transportation. The PSP aims to decrease Missouri truck accidents by helping trucking companies make sound, informed, and responsible hiring decisions.

PSP records give trucking companies access to the crash and inspection histories of truck drivers. PSP records will include whether the trucker driver previously violated a trucking regulation. Whether the truck driver had previously been in a Missouri truck accident is also indicated in PSP. Using these records in hiring decisions may help trucking companies avoid liability for negligent hiring. The records are available online, keeping the program efficient and cost-effective.

The PSP charges trucking companies for access to PSP records to help cover the costs of the program. Trucking companies are charged an annual subscription fee of $100. The trucking company must pay an additional $10 per PSP record request. Trucking companies with fewer than 100 units only have to pay a reduced annual fee of $25. Individuals may also request that PSP records. Individuals pay $10 per personal driver history, but individuals do not have to pay a subscription fee.

Continue reading "FMCSA Launches Employment Screening for Truck Drivers" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently proposed eliminating a braking safety requirement after a petition for rulemaking was presented by a lobbying organization for trucking companies. The FMCSA proposes to eliminate the operational brake requirement for the final saddle-mounted tractor or truck in a triple saddle-mount combo. The federal trucking and motor carrier regulations currently require operational brakes on any wheel of a saddle-mounted vehicle on a commercial motor vehicle.

The FMCSA’s proposed rule change follows a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Automobile Carriers Conference (ACC). The ACC is a part of the American Trucking Associations, which represents commercial motor carriers. The ACC represents motor carriers that specifically transport motor vehicles like passenger cars.

The ACC submitted the petition because it believes that the requirement degrades braking performance. The degradation occurs when the axle of the last vehicle locks up under heavy braking. The operational brake may actually increase stopping distance if it causes an axle to lock. When stopping distance increases, truck drivers have a more difficult time avoiding Missouri truck accidents. The ACC based its petition on data from performance tests performed by a firm named Link-Radlinski, Inc. (then known as Radlinski & Associates). The firm conducted the tests for another company.

The FMCSA is proposing the rule change because it agrees with the tests upon which the ACC based its petition. Since eliminating the operational brake requirement may improve braking performance, the officials at the FMCSA believe the elimination is consistent with the goal of strengthening highway safety. If the ACC and the FMCSA are correct, the rule change may decrease the number of Missouri trucking accidents.

Continue reading "FMCSA Proposes Eliminating Brake Safety Requirement after Lobbyist Petition" »

Last January, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood banned the practice of texting by truck drivers in order to cut down on tractor-trailer crashes. At the time of the announcement, it was only a regulatory guideline and not yet an official FMCSA rule. That changed at the end of last month when a final rule banning texting by truck drivers took permanent effect.

The final rule specifically targets texting, not just talking, as studies have shown it to impair attention far more and thus making it more likely to result in a serious injury accident. While any number of distractions can exist in the cab of a tractor unit and result in riskier situations, texting results in crash rate 23 times higher than focused, undistracted driving.

The ban comes at a time when text messaging has exploded as a means of communication. The total number of text messages sent last year was 22 times higher than it was just four years ago.

While support of the ban is pretty widespread, some groups, like the American Association for Justice, say it doesn't go far enough. They and other safety advocacy groups argue that there are many more in cab distractions that should be banned, such as some on-board computers. The final rule on texting bans the practice on personal phones and other dispatch or communications equipment, but many other on-board distractors are not addressed by the rule.

More than any kind of mechanical failure, the most common cause of tractor trailer crashes is driver error. While most drivers and companies prioritize safety, a few bend the rules in order to cover more miles or bring in bigger shipments. This can be done by driving excessive hours or speeding, and whenever this happens, mistakes are more prone to occurring. The best way to shift priorities back to safety is to hold negligent drivers and their companies responsible.

There are several ways to do this. The simplest way is simply calling the trucking company directly. You might see a phone number on the truck or a company name that you can search for later. If you feel that contacting the company is not the best solution, there are other agencies you can call.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a special hotline set up where people can call to report negligent companies and unsafe maneuvers by drivers. The number for this is 1-888-368-7238. It may also be helpful to call the local highway patrol. Here in Missouri, that number is 573-751-3313.

Another way to hold a company responsible for a serious truck accident is through the civil courts system. If you feel like an accident involving you or a loved one was caused by driver negligence, or you simply have questions about how to handle an injury accident, contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible.

Changes to the weight regulations for tractor-trailers are expected to be debated by legislators and transportation officials and could lead to looser restrictions on weight limits for these commercial trucks.

The current proposal being advocated by some in the trucking industry is to raise the weight limit from the current 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds, an increase of more than 20 percent.

The weight restrictions exist as a safety measure to limit the amount of damage done in the event of a commercial truck accident. These vehicles are massive and, while many drivers are very skilled and accident-free, mistakes do happen. Anytime a tractor-trailer driver loses control on a highway, the potential for extensive damage and injuries exists. Tests have shown that it takes anywhere from 250 to 450 feet of hard braking for a truck driver to stop a fully loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 55 m.p.h., depending on reaction time and the condition of the brake pads.

Those advocating a higher weight limit say that while safety is of the utmost importance, the current regulations are too restrictive, especially for this economy. If trucks could carry more, companies would be more profitable. You could also see fewer trucks on the road if each individual vehicle could carry a heavier load.

Opponents to the rule change point to a number of high-profile tractor-trailer crashes and the deaths and injuries caused by truck accidents. One such incident took place in St. Louis two years ago when a tractor-trailer driver, who had become distracted by his cell phone, plowed through a line of ten cars near a construction zone before finally coming to a stop. Had the truck been carrying more weight, it would have taken longer to stop and more passenger cars would have been crushed.

The number of people killed in a traffic accident fell to 33,808 for the year 2009, which is the lowest that number has been in 60 years, according to data released by the Department of Transportation.

In addition to the overall decline in accidents, there has been a significant drop in the number of fatal tractor-trailer accidents as well. There was more than a 25 percent drop in these types of crashes when comparing last year to 2008.

Several factors are contributing to this decline in accidents. The economic recession is probably why last year's drop was so dramatic. With many companies scaling back, there were less trucks on the road and less opportunity for wrecks.

While the recession might get credit for the sharpness of the decline last year, truck accidents have been steadily falling for years due to other reasons.

New technological advances, such as collision warning systems and electronic data recorders, are becoming more commonplace and cutting into the number of crashes.

Regulations on the trucking industry are also having an effect. Since the latest Hours of Service regulations took effect, there has been a 20 percent drop in large truck crashes.

The goal of CSA 2010, the new safety program from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is to better track the performance of truck drivers and their companies and hold them accountable for their actions. One aspect is the tracking of violations given to drivers as drivers who pile up moving violations are more likely to be involved in a serious truck accident. Recently, though, some in the industry have taken issue with the way the new program counts violations.

CSA 2010 will count all moving violations against the driver, even if no actual citation is given to the driver. This means that a tractor-trailer can be pulled over for going over the speed limit, but let off with a warning, yet the incident will still be counted as a violation when it comes time to give a safety performance rating.

Representatives from the trucking industry complain that this way of tracking violations is unfair to the driver. They say that it doesn't allow for the driver to challenge a violation and amounts to a guilty until proven innocent standard.

Also, some states don't allow for law enforcement to inspect a commercial vehicle unless there is probable cause to stop the vehicle. In these states it is common for an officer to pull a truck over for speeding just a couple miles over the limit in order to have a reason to search the vehicle. No citation is given in the majority of these cases, but under the new safety rating system, these stops would count as violations.

Representatives from the FMCSA claim that the new system still gives an accurate view of a driver's performance. They also understand that different states have different laws and will account for that in their ratings. The big problem they are trying to avoid is drivers getting off the hook for violations since a pattern of negligent behavior is often a predictor of future tractor-trailer crashes.

According to the Federal Carrier Safety Administration, the majority of trucking companies have not logged on to the CSA 2010 website to check their safety performance rating data. The new system was designed to better analyze tractor trailer crash and inspection data to give a more accurate safety rating.

Some worry that the trucking industry is not invested in the new program since so few have logged in to check their rating. Over 11,000 carriers have checked their status compared to nearly 500,000 total carriers that could be affected by the new rules.

While some of the apparent lack of interest can be attributed to the fact that some of the 500,000 may not have enough data in the system to give accurate performance ratings, the numbers are much lower than regulators would hope.

The new program hopes to cut down on the number of tractor trailer injury accidents in Missouri and around the country by giving more detailed ratings of companies and drivers. It is unfortunate that so many carriers seem to have little interest in the safety program. Hopefully, as the program leaves the test phase and goes nationwide in November, more carriers will get behind the new program and commit to making our highways safer.

The American Trucking Associations and industry representatives have recently been voicing their concerns over several aspects of the new safety enforcement plan, CSA 2010, being tested in Missouri and other states to prevent tractor-trailer accidents. We recently blogged about issues with the release of data to the public, but there are still other issues that trucking companies would like to see worked about before the program officially goes live.

One of these other issues is the way the program tracks commercial truck crashes. As it is currently designed, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration doesn't designate accountability or fault when tracking the number of crashes a company or driver has been involved with. The data only reflects that an accident occurred and the severity of the accident.

Some trucking companies believe the FMCSA should differentiate between preventable and non-preventable accidents so that drivers and their companies are not punished for wrecks that aren't their fault.

Representatives with the FMCSA team organizing CSA 2010 say they've always tracked accidents without recording fault. They claim that crash data, regardless of fault, is an accurate predictor of the chances of future crashes.

Even though the data as is may be a useful tool in predicting accidents, the FMCSA did say they will consider a new way of tracking accountability so that drivers involved in accidents that weren't their fault are separated from negligent drivers whose actions contributed to a wreck.

Nine states, including Missouri, have been testing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new safety enforcement program, CSA 2010, to generally favorable reviews. Now, though, with the program scheduled to go into full swing in November, some in the trucking industry are worried that the program is moving too quickly and that some tweaking needs to be done.

Specifically, those that are concerned about the program are worried that there will be issues with the way the new data is released to the public. Part of the changes with the new program are the way tractor-trailer crashes are tracked and reported to the public. Each driver and company is given safety ratings based on a number of factors, including results of random tests and crash history, and these ratings will be made public.

If everything were to go as scheduled, a lot of the new data from the test states would be made public in November, with the other states officially joining the program after that. Many companies in non-test states have already started to transition to the new CSA procedures to make the process smoother.

The problem, says representatives from the Transport Corporation of America and other industry groups, is that this early data needs to be examined to make sure it accurately reflects the actual ratings of the companies it's tracking. If the data or ratings system is flawed, they say, it could turn public opinion against the program by giving a false impression of the number of truck accidents in Missouri and other states. They want to make sure that all the data is thoroughly scrutinized before going public. A University of Michigan study is being conducted on the testing procedures to make sure they produce accurate results, but that report won't be ready until December.

Representatives for the FMCSA say they are confident in the data, and any errors discovered by the study would only require minor tweaks and public data on truck accidents already exists. The new program just changes the rating systems.

The most important thing in this process is that the data collected is accurate. One of the best ways to curb the rate of tractor-trailer accident injuries is to hold negligent drivers and companies responsible.

If you have questions about a truck accident case of your own and would like legal advice, contact a St. Louis truck accident lawyer for a free consultation.

Officials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are engaging in ongoing talks focused on combating health issues like sleep apnea, a major problem contributing to tractor trailer accidents.

Sleep apnea is a condition often associated with obesity that can disrupt normal breathing patterns while a person is at rest. As a result, sleep is disrupted and people suffering from this condition often find themselves fatigued.

This fatigue can lead to very serious truck accident injuries once the driver gets behind the wheel. Fatigue is a significant contributing factor in as many as one out of every seven tractor trailer crashes.

Truck drivers are especially likely to be obese and thus are more at risk for sleep apnea. The nature of the job requires a person to sit for eight hours or more each day and doesn’t provide many opportunities for a regular exercise cycle. As a result, as many as 40 percent of truck drivers are classified as significantly overweight.

Truck drivers receive medical exams every couple years, but it has never been required that they be tested for sleep apnea as part of the exam. That may change in the future as the American Trucking Associations estimate that as many as one-third of truckers suffer from the condition.

While the FMCSA is discussing the final changes to their health monitoring policy, proactive truckers and their companies should be doing everything they can to start exercise programs and reduce their weight so they are not at risk for sleep apnea. This is not only for the driver’s personal health and well being, but for the safety of everyone on the road.

New technology has always played a role in reducing the number of injuries from car and truck accidents. Whether it's vehicles designed with crumple zones, trucks with underride bars, or improvements within passenger cabins to protect riders, new technology has been responsible for saving countless lives. The latest technological wave looking to help the trucking industry deal with incidents before they happen is a collection of new maintenance tracking programs.

While driver error is the number one cause of tractor trailer accidents, maintenance failures, especially related to braking systems, are also a major contributor to accidents and fatalities. Because of this, federal trucking regulators have passed down many guidelines for vehicle maintenance and inspections.

Tracking what maintenance needs to be done and scheduling those repairs is becoming much easier as new technology comes online. Drivers used to use paper driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs) to document the work that needs to be done. Companies are increasingly using electronic DVIRs and storing the information digitally as a way of making the process more efficient. Many systems are now capable of instantly having a computer schedule maintenance work and order parts as soon as the DVIR is logged.

These new technologies are not yet mandatory for companies, though it will certainly make complying with safety regulations easier if a trucking company adopts a high tech system. Hopefully all companies will find ways of using these new technologies to make their fleets safer.

One of the big changes to expect from Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 is the way roadside inspections on commercial vehicles will be handled and how they affect the driver. Officials hope these new changes, which include expanding inspections and holding drivers accountable, will reduce the number of tractor trailer accident injuries we see every year in this country.

The new regulations will include 275 points of inspection for a commercial truck. Over 200 of these items can be checked in a simple roadside inspection. Roadside inspectors will be conduction over 3 million inspections each year.

Drivers will have more at stake in these inspections after CSA 2010 takes full effect. A driver is to be responsible for making sure his vehicle is in safe working order before taking it on the road. If a roadside inspection turns up a violation, it will count against the driver's safety rating as well as his motor carrier company's rating. With more networks of driver information being made available and easily accessed by potential employers, drivers will want to make sure their rating is high and will be more personally invested in maintenance checks.

Hopefully these new ways of tracking drivers and trucking companies to hold them accountable for their performance will result in a safer conditions and fewer serious truck crashes.

As the FMCSA prepares the Comprehensive Safety Analysis, the American Trucking Associations have weighed in with their ideas for limiting the number of tractor trailer accidents. Their focus seems to be on combating driver fatigue.

Specifically, ATA representatives have made five suggestions:

1 - Promote sleep disorder awareness, training and screening. In particular, they want to see drivers with sleep apnea get educated on their condition.

2 - Promote fatigue risk management programs.

3 - Evaluating the use of fatigue detection devices.

4 - Provide additional parking along prominent shipping corridors so that drivers can have additional places to rest.

5 - Educate drivers on how to find the additional parking and rest stops.

Since fatigue is such a big factor in many truck accidents in Missouri and around the country, ATA officials hope these measures will go a long way to lowering the number of crashes.

Every year for the past 22 years, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has performed a flurry of a random inspections over a three-day span called Roadcheck. With the cooperation of federal agencies here in the U.S., Canadian and Mexican transportation officials, and thousands of inspectors, a massive number of evaluations were made all across North America. The results have come in for Roadcheck 2010 and while the stats aren't surprising, they show we still have a lot of work to do if we want to prevent truck accident injuries and fatalities.

The overall compliance rates for commercial vehicles was at 80 percent while drivers passed over 95 percent of the time. Focusing specifically on passenger-carrying vehicles, the compliance rate raises to 91 percent for the vehicle and 96 percent for the driver. Commercial shipping and hazardous materials transporters had vehicle compliance rates in the 76 to 83 percent range. Most of these compliance rates are very close to, if not the same as, the 2009 rates with only the passenger-carrying vehicle compliance rate showing an increase of more than a fraction of a percent.

Simply put, an 80 percent compliance rate should be considered unacceptable for the commercial trucking industry. That means that one out of every five trucks has a violation that could contribute to a deadly tractor trailer accident. How many big rigs do you pass on your daily highway commute? A dozen? More? Knowing that, statistically speaking, every fifth truck has a potentially dangerous vehicle violation should make the severity of this problem very clear.

If you were curious, the most common vehicle defects were brake related. About half of all the out-of-service violations were because of brake issues.

The way we track the safety records of trucking companies will be undergoing some changes in the near future and Missouri is at the forefront of the transition. Our state is helping to test the new Comprehensive Safety Analysis, or CSA, which will replace the current programs in use by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to evaluate companies and prevent Missouri tractor trailer crashes.

The evaluation process for trucking companies will be very different once the new rules take effect. Currently, a compliance review of a company examines four areas: Driver, Vehicle, Safety Management and Accidents. CSA 2010 expands the number of areas rated to seven and makes them more specifically defined. Companies will now be rated for Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving, Driver Fitness, Vehicle Maintenance, Improper Load Securement, Crash History and Alcohol/Drug Abuse Record. This new method should do a better job of pinpointing the exact problem areas that need to be addressed.

Another change is that drivers themselves will be directly measured and given scores independent of their company. For every violation, a weighted score will be given to both the driver and the company based on their level of responsibility and severity of the violation. These scores will stay with drivers as they move from company to company and will hopefully keep the most dangerous drivers off the road before someone is killed or injured in a truck accident they cause.

If a company or driver is given a marginal or unfit rating, they face interventions or suspensions from the FMCSA. The types of interventions will be tailored to the severity of the violation.

Hopefully these new rules will lead to more accountability in the industry. As a St. Louis personal injury lawyer, I have seen countless cases where a company or driver's negligence has lead to a tragic accident. The small percentage of companies who cause the vast majority of crashes need to be held responsible for their actions.

The Hours of Service regulations are, as the name suggests, rules that govern the number of hours that a truck driver can work in a given day or week. Limiting the number of hours that a driver is behind the wheel is the best way to fight fatigue, which is a major cause of serious tractor trailer accidents.

After numerous studies on the effects of these regulations, the results say the rules are very successful at limiting truck accidents. The Hours of Service laws we know today began to take effect in the mid 2000's. Since that time, the number of fatalities from truck accidents has taken a significant drop.

Every year since the rules took effect there has been a drop in accidents. In total, there has been more than a 20% drop in truck accident injuries and fatalities.

The effects are not surprising if you know the effect of fatigue on a driver. Mental impairment begins after someone has been awake for 16 hours. By the time a person is awake for 17 hours, they are as impaired as someone with a blood alcohol content of .05. Once you approach 19 to 20 hours awake, your response time is as limited as someone who is over the legal limit for alcohol. It's no wonder that rules designed to limit fatigued driving have had such a positive effect.

Even the American Trucking Association has embraced the new data on fatigued driving. They are now pushing for more training for drivers to make them aware of the effects of fatigue.

To read more about the specifics of the Hours of Service regulations, check out the Bradley Law Firm website.

Driving while intoxicated is a major problem on our country's roadways. On almost any given day you can open the newspaper or look at daily crash reports and see at least one alcohol related accident that occurred in the area. In fact, Missouri had 364 alcohol related car accident deaths in 2008 which means the state very nearly averaged a death per day. Nationwide, there were almost 14,000 alcohol related traffic deaths that year. In a tragic bit of irony, many times these accidents will spare the drunken driver, but take the life of an innocent victim in another car.

So alcohol is a major problem in general, but what about the commercial trucking industry? Is it more or less of a problem there? Do regulations help reduce the problem of driving under the influence?

Looking at recent studies, alcohol is actually much less of an issue with commercial truck drivers. Alcohol plays a role in only 6 percent of fatal tractor trailer accidents while it is present in 32 percent of the fatal crashes among the average passenger car driver.

Less than one percent of truck drivers overall ever fail an alcohol screening regardless of whether it came after an accident or was a random test.

What seems to be a bigger problem among truck drivers is drug use, especially stimulants. 5 percent of tractor trailer drivers have failed a test for illegal drugs and 12 percent of drivers were found to have used over the counter stimulants.

The reason the numbers for alcohol use may be lower among truck drivers is that regulations require trucking companies to do an array of drug and alcohol screenings on their employees. These tests may be given pre-employment, after accidents and at random.

Still, we do occasionally see drivers breaking regulation and companies continuing to hire drivers with a history of substance abuse. Those practicing these negligent policies need to be held accountable. If you or someone you love has been involved in an accident with a tractor trailer driver that was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, contact a Missouri truck accident lawyer to make sure your rights as an accident victim are protected.

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.

If you drive a smaller compact car, I'm sure you've had the experience of riding on the highway as a tractor trailer rumbles by and realizing you're actually able to see under the trailer. You can see dangling chains and spare tires, as well as all the axles and moving parts. You might even find yourself wondering if your car could fit totally underneath the trailer.

In the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", the main character, played by Chevy Chase, finds himself accidentally swerving underneath a trailer in the opening scenes. This incident is played for laughs on the big screen, but the reality is much scarier. Every year, these so-called underride incidents occur in numerous tractor trailer accident cases, and often they have very serious consequences.

The reason for the danger is because the bed of a trailer is often higher than the hood of a standard passenger car. The front end of a car is designed to absorb impacts, but the windshield and frame that makes up the passenger compartment is not quite as sturdy. If a car were to drive underneath a tractor trailer, the bed of the trailer has a good chance of entering the passenger compartment and causing serious head and neck injuries. As you can imagine, these injuries are often fatal.

Because of the risk of underride accidents, federal regulations were put in place requiring all trailers to have a guard bar to prevent cars from wedging under the trailer in the event of a serious truck crash. This rear impact guard is designed to hit a passenger car's front end, rather than the passenger compartment.

Occasionally, though, we see cases where these regulations are not properly followed. A tractor trailer may be missing this guard rail completely or the guard rail may be set to an improper height. The rear impact guard may also not be structurally sound due to excessive rust or damage from a previous accident. If the bar snaps off with minimal pressure, it's just as bad as having no bar at all. In fact, it might be worse as now you have another piece of heavy debris that could potentially crash through the windshield and cause injury.

Investigating these details after a crash is important. It holds negligent trucking companies accountable and helps prevent these incidents in the future. If you have been involved in a wreck with a large commercial truck, consult a Missouri tractor trailer accident attorney as soon as possible to make sure your crash receives a thorough investigation.

One of the more common types of tractor trailer crashes is the jackknife crash. The jackknife is usually caused when the driver applies the brakes and the cab slows down, but the trailer's momentum continues to push it forward. In this situation, the cab and the trailer get offset to an extreme angle and the driver loses control of the whole rig.

While usually caused by braking, a jackknife can occur nearly anytime a driver turns the wheel as well. Changing lanes on the highway or making a turn at any intersection can cause a cause a jackknife if attempted by a poorly trained driver.

This is where federal regulations are useful to help prevent these incidents. By required special licenses, regulations try to promote driver expertise and keep negligent drivers off the road. Weight restrictions on shipments, speed limits and general maintenance requirements are all regulations designed to prevent serious tractor trailer crashes, including jackknifes.

Unfortunately, we still see companies failing to do the proper inspections or overloading trucks to a dangerous degree. When this negligent behavior causes an accident, those responsible must be held accountable. If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident with a tractor trailer, contact a Missouri tractor trailer accident attorney as soon as possible to make sure your rights as an accident victim are protected.

Driving a tractor trailer is a challenging job. Keeping an 18-wheel vehicle that weighs up to 80,000 pounds under control in the presence of smaller, more vulnerable cars is a job that only the most qualified drivers should attempt. Many of the truck drivers on the road do a fantastic job and keep their vehicle in good condition, as well as keeping their head clear and focused. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as a number of drivers or trucking companies will operate vehicles that aren't safe or drive in an unsafe manner. To help limit these behaviors and the serious tractor trailer crashes they cause, federal motor carrier regulations have been put in place.

Here are some of the most common violations:

-Driving fatigued due to working extended hours. The Hours of Service rules are designed to limit the number of consecutive hours that a truck driver can be behind the wheel. Many drivers are paid by the mile so they have an incentive to keep driving long into the night without stopping for rest. Studies have shown that people who are awake and active for 17 straight hours are as impaired as someone with a blood alcohol level of .05.

-Distracted driving. Many tractor trailer accidents are caused by drivers who simply aren't paying attention to the road. Recently, the Secretary of Transportation banned truck drivers from texting behind the wheel. Unfortunately, there is still an abundance of things to distract a driver and cause a serious accident.

-Inaccurate log books. In order to make sure the hours of service rules aren't broken, every driver must keep a detailed log of all his driving. Drivers who try to cut corners and break regulation will often make fraudulent entries in their log books to disguise any questionable practices. Fortunately, other evidence can be found and compared to the logs to check their accuracy. Weigh station and fuel receipts can be obtained and used by an experienced truck accident lawyer to make a timeline of actual events to compare to the logs.

-Negligent practices by a trucking company. Sometimes a problem is much larger than a single driver who makes a lapse in judgment. Mismanagement by a trucking company can lead to any number of dangerous situations. Accident investigations in the past have uncovered companies that don't train their drivers properly and hire drivers with a history of accidents and alcohol use. Companies may also try to save money by skipping on vehicle inspections and letting unsafe vehicles out on the road.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of potential violations. It is merely a few of the more common problems that can lead to a serious injury accident. If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial truck, contact a Missouri trucking accident attorney as soon as possible to make sure your rights are protected and companies are held accountable for any negligent practices.

One point of emphasis when the motor carrier regulations were crafted was limiting the number of fatigued drivers on the road. Mental or physical exhaustion can greatly affect your ability to operate a vehicle safely and is a big contributor to tractor trailer injury accidents.

Just how impaired are you while driving tired? It's a hard question to quantify, but over the years tests were done comparing driver fatigue to drunken driving to give us a scale that we can better relate to. The results are pretty startling.

If you are awake and active for 17 straight hours, your reaction time and coordination is reduced to level of someone with a blood alcohol content of .05. Weight and water consumption can affect BAC levels, but that's roughly comparable to having a few beers over the course of an hour. If you extend the time to 24 straight hours without sufficient rest, you will be as impaired as someone with a .10 BAC. The standard for driving while intoxicated is .08, so effectively, not getting enough rest is as dangerous as driving drunk.

This is why the hours of service regulations were created to limit the amount of time a truck driver can be behind the wheel and on-duty without rest. Study after study has repeatedly shown that fatigued drivers are more likely to cause major truck crashes.

Unfortunately, pressures from trucking companies and the motivation of a per mile pay scale can sometimes lead drivers to violate these regulations. What's more is that drivers will try to fabricate their driving logs to disguise the fact they are driving while dangerously fatigued. This is why every truck accident should be scrutinized by investigators and tractor trailer accident attorneys to hold drivers accountable for negligent practices.

If you have been involved in a tractor trailer crash, consult a personal injury attorney who's knowledgeable in trucking regulations as soon as possible.

A serious tractor trailer crash occurred Sunday night on Interstate 65 near Bowling Green, Kentucky when a Freightliner collided with a Greyhound bus and left ten people seriously injured.

According to local media reports, the crash took place around midnight in the southbound lanes of the interstate. Both the tractor trailer and the bus were traveling southbound, with the bus riding ahead of the truck. The bus was traveling slower than the big rig and, for an unknown reason, the truck driver was unable to avoid slamming into the back of the bus.

The truck driver along with 9 passengers on the bus were taken to local hospitals for emergency treatment. An additional 33 others were riding on the bus and did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

More investigation will be needed to determine what caused this truck injury accident, but investigators will likely be checking out a few specific probable causes. One of the most common causes of tractor trailer crashes is fatigued drivers, so the log books of the driver will be examined to see if he was getting the proper amount of rest to help fight fatigue. There is also the possibility of a mechanical failure with the brakes which, if that were the case, would lead investigators to check the inspection records of the truck.

Another common cause of accidents is distracted driving. As hand-held electronic devices become more common, states and federal agencies are looking to restrict their use behind the wheel as a way of preventing fatal car and truck accidents. Just recently a restriction on texting and driving was placed on all commercial truck drivers.

Karl Krueger, 62, was killed and another man was injured Tuesday in a chain reaction crash that involved five tractor trailers near Missouri Valley, Iowa.

This fatal tractor trailer accident occurred before noon as four of the trucks were stopped on highway I-29. Krueger was driving the fifth truck and, for some reason, failed to notice the line of traffic ahead of him. His truck crashed into the back of the fourth tractor trailer and a chain reaction spread the force of impact to the other trucks.

Krueger was rushed to an area hospital, but was pronounced dead after arriving. The driver of second big rig in the line of four, Charles Sundt, 62, was also taken to the hospital by emergency responders.

Early reports on this serious semi-truck crash have not determined why Krueger was unable to stop his truck before hitting the line of traffic. It has also not been reported what caused the backup of traffic on the highway in the first place.

The crash is still under investigation.

While we don't know what exactly caused this accident, we do know that Krueger must not have had much of a chance to slow down before the impact if his tractor trailer was able to move a line of four others. Each semi-truck with a trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds (or more, if motor carrier regulations are violated) so the physical forces involved in this crash must have been incredible. This is especially so if Sundt, the driver of the second truck, was hospitalized even though he had two other big rigs between his truck and Krueger's.

The amount of damage that can be caused by a tractor trailer in an accident is catastrophic. That is why we must ensure that all regulations are followed and negligent companies and drivers are held accountable for their actions. If you have been involved in a tractor trailer accident and would like to discuss your case with a legal professional, contact a tractor trailer accident attorney as soon as possible.

Last month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood banned all truck drivers from texting while behind the wheel. While this is a step toward preventing serious semi-tractor trailer crashes, texting is not the only distraction for truckers.

Just like other drivers on the road, commercial truck drivers have a plethora of seemingly innocuous distractions that could tempt their attention away from the road. In addition to phones, there are other small personal data devices that drivers could be tinkering with. Navigation systems, which are handy if driving an unfamiliar route, still need to be programmed by hand and can still lure a driver’s eyes away from the task of driving. Aside from the gadgets, drivers could also be taking their hands off the wheel for a bite to eat or even to comb their hair in the rearview mirror. Anything that requires a driver’s attention, even for a couple seconds, can be a recipe for disaster when mixed with a truck weighing 80,000 pounds.

Laptops in the cabin are becoming more popular as well. Trucking companies defend their use because drivers can use them to track their route and communicate more efficiently. While this may be true, negligent use can lead to fatal truck accidents. Recently, a woman in Ohio was killed when a truck driver, who was distracted by his laptop, hit her. While this accident would have been tragic no matter what the trucker was doing with his laptop, the incident was made even more shocking when it was later revealed the truck driver was watching pornography at the time of the crash.

Not all truck drivers are so grossly negligent. It is, in fact, a small percentage of people who would risk other people’s lives because of some silly distraction. It is a danger to be aware of, however, and all drivers should be vigilant on the roads.

If you have been involved in an accident with a tractor trailer and would like professional legal counsel, contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your case. Accident cases like these are very time sensitive and any delay could result in important evidence being lost.

In a move designed to prevent deadly tractor trailer crashes, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has banned commercial truck and bus drivers from texting behind the wheel.

The rule goes into effect immediately and drivers caught texting can face penalties of up to $2,750. It is unclear how the new rule will be enforced.

This ban fits with the trend as the nation tries to control distracted driving and prevent the car and truck accident injuries that it causes. 19 states already have some sort of texting ban for drivers, according to a CNN report.

The dangers of texting and driving are clear. Two recent train accidents, one in California and one in Massachusetts, have been blamed on engineers missing signals due to texting. In the St. Louis area, there have been a couple high profile cases of tractor trailer drivers being distracted by their cell phones.

According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration statistics cited in a CNN report, drivers have their eyes off the road for 4.6 out of every 6 seconds while texting. Texting drivers are 20 times more likely to cause an accident and eighty percent of all accidents are related to driver inattention.

In our last post we talked a little about the dangers of ice falling from trucks and causing serious personal injury and property damage. While the danger of ice falling from a tractor trailer is a concern limited to colder weather, drivers have to be on the lookout for lost cargo all year long.

You've probably seen a piece of debris on the highway before. Maybe it was a mattress blocking lanes during the morning rush or a tire propped up against the median. It could have fallen from the back of a pickup or an open bed tractor trailer, but wherever it came from, these items can be very dangerous. Large items like construction equipment can crush smaller cars and even tiny pieces of debris can pop a tire and make a car spin out of control.

To prevent fatal car accidents caused by debris falling from tractor trailers, the FMCSA has made a detailed a set of rules for truck drivers on how to properly secure cargo. These rules are very elaborate and specific to certain items. There are guidelines for securing logs, concrete pipe, cars and many more.

If these rules are not followed, there is a chance that the cargo could come loose and fall into the roadway damaging other vehicles and injuring their occupants. In certain situations it can even be difficult to find the person responsible for losing the debris as a tractor trailer driver might not even realize he's lost cargo until miles down the road.

While it may take some investigation to find a vehicle that left debris in the roadway, it is necessary to hold that driver responsible. If you have been involved in a tractor trailer accident, contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your rights.

One danger that may not be readily apparent to you as you drive on the highway this winter is the risk of large sheets of ice falling off of tractor trailers. Every year, there are numerous incidents where a driver suffers a serious personal injury or is involved in a car accident after losing control of the vehicle when a chunk of ice smashes through the windshield.

If you've driven on the highway long, you've probably had to deal with minor debris hitting your car from large trucks. The large tires of tractor trailers are good at kicking up small rocks and dump trucks have a tendency to lose small bits of what they're hauling as they hit bumps in the road. Usually this only causes minor scratches or cracks in passenger cars (not to mention the headache of patching these minor damages).

In the winter time, though, the tops of tractor trailers can accumulate large blocks of ice that are liable to break free at any moment. The large flat surface of a trailer roof catches lots of snow and water which can shift easily as the truck moves.

The Chicago Daily Herald has recently reported on a handful of accidents in which thousands of dollars in damage and moderate personal injuries have been caused by falling sheets of ice. New York is considering changing its laws about clearing ice from trucks after a woman there was killed when a piece of ice smashed through a windshield after falling off a tractor trailer.

Unfortunately, it is hard to track the number of these types of incidents each year. Sometimes they go unreported and even in severe cases, the truck that loses the ice is often never found. Perhaps if we had a better understanding of just how big a problem this is, we might see more aggressive regulation to reign in these types of accidents.

If you have been involved in an accident where ice or some type of falling debris has damaged your car and caused injury, contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your case as soon as possible. Be sure to document any information you have about the incident and vehicles involved.

We often discuss the causes of Missouri tractor trailer accidents on this blog and one of the major problems continues to be truck driver fatigue. Whether it comes from lack of sleep or just a driver exerting himself further than his body can handle, fatigue can have deadly consequences when mixed with 80,000 pounds of freight.

According to the NTSB, one in three tractor trailer accidents are caused by driver fatigue. This includes both fatal and non-fatal accidents. If these estimates are true, that means there are over 160,000 truck accidents that could have been prevented had the driver not been fatigued.

Even more startling is the number of truck drivers that admit to actually falling asleep at the wheel. Some studies claim this number is as high as one in five drivers having fallen asleep at the wheel at least once in their driving careers.

A driver doesn't actually have to fall asleep to put himself and others in danger. Being heavily fatigued limits your reaction time and attention span as well as making it harder to stay in a lane. Perhaps you may have even felt this yourself in your own car when driving late at night. While driving in this condition is not safe in any vehicle, the large size and limited mobility of commercial shipping trucks requires that your mind be totally focused to avoid any problems.

You are also more susceptible to a condition commonly called "road hypnosis" when you are fatigued. Drivers on long road trips often report that they simply don't remember long stretches of the drive because they were in a type of psychological autopilot. Your conscious mind can separate from simple sub conscious tasks using an ability psychologists call automaticity. A driver's automatic responses may be able to keep a car on the roadway for short stretches, but if something unexpected happens, like a sudden traffic backup, the conscious mind may not be able to take over and stop the vehicle in time.

Federal regulations are in place that limit the number of consecutive hours a driver can be behind the wheel, and these restrictions may be expanded further if regulators feel it would be in the interest of public safety. Developing these rules can be tricky, though, because if you limit driver's hours too much, companies argue they will be forced to hire more inexperienced drivers which may also increase accidents.

If you have been involved in an accident with a tractor trailer and suspect the driver was driving while dangerously fatigued, contact a Missouri truck accident lawyer. An experienced attorney will be able investigate the driver's log books and company shipping records to determine if the driver violated any regulations and if these regulations contributed to the accident.

The map to the right provides a good visual representation of the amount of tractor trailer traffic on Missouri’s highways every year and why we need to work very hard to prevent Missouri truck crashes.

The U.S. Department of Transportation provided the map and the data behind it showing the amount of shipping traffic across the country. As you can see, Missouri is a central hub with hundreds of millions of tons passing through the state’s highway, rail and waterway systems.

Looking at just the tractor trailer shipping traffic, you can see why there are so many large truck accidents in the state every year. The two major highways criss-crossing the state, I-70 and I-44, bear the load of more than 200 millions tons of freight by themselves. Perhaps this is one reason why those two highways were recently listed as the two most dangerous in Missouri.

Shipping goods by truck is an important part of our economy and can be handled in a safe way, as evidenced by the thousands of truck drivers who operate their vehicles without incident every day. The shear size of the trucks can quickly lead to tragedy, though, when operated by those few negligent drivers and trucking companies.

The best way to control these negligent practices is with careful federal regulation, constant supervision by state authorities and proper utilization of the civil justice system when an accident occurs. Anybody involved in a Missouri tractor trailer crash should contact a Missouri truck accident attorney as soon as possible to investigate the incident.

Photo by KMBC-TV

A truck carrying thousands of pounds of Pepsi soda overturned on I-435 early Monday morning sending two people to the hospital and scattering soda bottles all over the highway.

According to authorities cited in local media reports, this Missouri truck injury crash was likely caused by slick road conditions. The Pepsi truck was unable to stop and slid into two other cars before slamming into the guardrail and flipping.

Both the driver of the truck and one of the other car's drivers were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The driver of the truck was trapped for nearly 40 minutes before being freed by rescue crews. The rest of the accident took hours to clean.

While slick road conditions can be a factor in Missouri car and truck crashes, the responsibility for safe driving still lies with drivers. If you cause an accident, even if it was because you car skid on an icy roadway, you will be liable for damages caused by the wreck.

Early indications are the Pepsi truck slid on the roadway in the Missouri crash, but these are just scattered early reports. More investigation is needed by local authorities, accident professionals, and perhaps a Missouri truck accident lawyer before liability can be determined.

Examining the statistics showing just how many people die or suffer injury in truck accidents in Missouri and around the country each year can lead one to a pretty bleak outlook on the situation. Several thousand people die every year and tens of thousands more sustain injuries that may affect them the rest of their lives.

There are steps that both the trucking companies and the average driver can take to reduce the number of fatal tractor trailer accidents in Missouri.

Time and time again, it is shown that the number one cause of accidents is driver error. Taking the time to re-educate yourself on proper driving techniques can help you break some bad habits. When driving near trucks, for instance, a passenger car should not get too close behind or in front of a truck which could jackknife easily if forced into an evasive maneuver. You should also not attempt to “race” a big rig at an exit ramp just to make sure you are ahead of it on the highway.

Some trucking companies are being very proactive and taking a high-tech approach to limiting accidents by installing driver assistance programs, like the VORAD system. These technologies can alert the driver if a dangerous situation is present and, in some cases, take control of truck’s brake system to avert a crash.

Not all companies go the extra mile, unfortunately, and some have been found to be consistently negligent in how they operate their vehicles. Because of this, the industry will continue to need to examine their regulations and hold companies that violate them accountable.

If you have been involved in a tractor trailer accident and would like an expert to examine the case to determine if regulations were violated, contact a St. Louis area truck accident lawyer.

A $1.3 million dollar ruling against the Missouri Department of Transportation was just handed down by a arbitration panel that decided the department could have done more to prevent a Missouri tractor trailer accident in 2005.

The accident in question was a December 6, 2005 crash that killed Jemma Dant, 28. Her car was stopped on I-44 when a semitrailer crashed into the back of her car and sent it into another truck. Her car was in a line of traffic which was backed up unusually far from the Vandeventer exit.

The arbitration panel said that MoDOT could have warned drivers about the backup, which extended past the Vandeventer exit lane and into the right lane of westbound I-44.

A St. Louis Post Dispatch report on the case said since the accident, the exit ramp was restriped and electronic warning signs were added that can update drivers about traffic conditions. Neither of these precautions were in place at the time of the accident.

Dant's family had already been paid damages by the trucking company involved in the crash.

This accident was tragic, but the changes that have taken place since the accident may help prevent a similar Missouri truck accident in the future. By hiring a St. Louis area personal injury attorney after an accident, you can possibly recover damages to help you financially through a difficult time and also draw attention to dangerous conditions that can be remedied to prevent future tragedy.

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.

A semi driver from Missouri was involved in a tractor trailer accident Thursday morning in Eastern Iowa, according to local media reports.

Details are sketchy as investigators are still examining the scene, but we do know the tractor trailer was heading westbound on I-80 when the accident occurred. The truck driver, whose name has not been released, attempted to pass a slower moving minivan. Once he had passed the van in the left lane, he began to merge back into the right lane, but apparently misjudged his clearance room. The trailer hit the van and forced it off the roadway into a ditch. The semi also lost control and drove off an I-80 overpass onto Wells Ferry Road. Luckily, there were no cars crushed by the large truck as it fell.

Neither driver was seriously hurt.

The tractor trailer driver is facing citations, according to a KWQC report.

Fortunately, this crash did not result in any severe injuries or death. Many times this is not the case. Negligent operation by tractor trailer drivers and their companies can have deadly consequences. Anybody who is involved in a crash with a tractor trailer in Missouri should contact a Missouri truck accident lawyer to discuss their case. He or she will be able to examine the case and recover damages to help the injured party cope with serious injury and large medical bills.

Data compiled by a Missouri attorney lobbying for more tractor trailer regulations shows that interstate 70 is by far Missouri’s deadliest highway, followed by I-44, U.S.-63 and I-55, according to a KSDK report.

Last year there were 41 fatalities on I-70 alone, according to the report. I-44, which has a longer stretch through the state, came in second with 25 fatal car and truck accidents.

The data is being used to call attention to the dangers on our roadways and the attorney who published it is hoping also to see some law changes as well. He, along with others, are trying to ban tractor trailer drivers from using portable electronic devices like cell phones and laptops while they are behind the wheel.

Missouri recently passed a law restricting drivers under 21 from texting and driving. Besides that, there are no laws restricting big rig and commercial truck drivers from talking on a cell phone or using a laptop despite the fact that studies show drivers using these devices are up to 23 percent more likely to cause an accident. Many truckers routinely use these devices to report back to their company and keep in touch with family while on the road.

While I respect the fact that drivers need to keep in contact with their employers and their family, it is not worth putting others at risk. The numbers clearly show that distracted drivers cause more accidents. If a negligent driver or company causes an accident they need to be held accountable. The best way to do this is to contact a Missouri truck accident attorney to help investigate your case if you or someone you love is involved in a crash.

The dangers of combining alcohol or drugs and driving are obvious and well documented. Still, we see thousands of fatal car and truck accidents each year as a result of drunk or drugged driving. Every state has laws to curb drunk driving and this applies to commercial truck and tractor trailer drivers as well. In fact, commercial truck drivers are subject to much stricter regulation than the average driver.

Every driver is required to submit to numerous drug and alcohol tests in order to remain employed. There are pre-employment drug screens as well as random tests administered throughout the driver's tenure. If a driver is involved in an accident, he will also have to submit to drug and alcohol screens to determine if these substances contributed to the accident. Failure to comply with these mandatory tests will result in serious consequences for the driver.

Because of these regulations, drunk and drugged driving has been reduced in the trucking industry. While not as rampant as it once was, the problem has not been completely eliminated. Various studies have found that 15% of drivers had illegal drugs in their systems after a crash. Some others were found to have been abusing prescription stimulants to fight fatigue. Even with all the tests for alcohol, 1% of fatal tractor trailer accidents were the result of drunk driving. That still adds up to hundreds of lives lost every year due to terribly negligent behavior on the part of a driver.

Trucking companies can fall short in their duties to police their drivers as well. Tractor trailer accident lawyers can sometimes find cases where tests are not properly administered by trucking companies and unsafe drivers are allowed back on the road. In these cases, the company as well as the driver should be held responsible for the damage caused by an accident.

An experienced Missouri truck accident lawyer will be able to examine an accident and determine if drugs or alcohol played a role. He will also be able to dig into company testing records to determine if the driver had a history of problems that should have kept the driver off the road in the first place.

The single largest contributing factor to fatal Missouri tractor trailer accidents is driver error. While certain crashes may have be unforeseeable and unavoidable, other drivers have a history of poor driving habits that should have been an indicator of their chances of causing an accident in the future. In order to keep these unsafe drivers from behind the wheel of a tractor trailer, the FMCSA has established regulations for the hiring and retention of drivers.

There are a number of requirements that a driver must meet before he can be hired on by a commercial trucking company. He or she must pass a written test on federal tractor trailer regulations. A road test must also be completed to prove that the driver can handle a big rig. A drug test must also be passed.

The employer must also complete an extensive background check on the potential driver. The driver's record over the past three years must be examined no matter what state the driver was in over those years. Past employers dating back three years must also be contacted and questioned about the driver's competence and safety record. All of the background check information must be documented and kept in the driver's file.

Once hired, there are additional rules for the retention of any tractor trailer driver. Evey year a performance review must occur and any driving violations must be examined. A series of random drug test may be administered as well. An employee file containing all relevant records must be kept while the driver is employed and for three years after.

If any of these regulations are violated, the company may be held liable for negligent hiring practices. It is not uncommon for important documents to be forged and tests to be passed without merit. This can mean an unqualified and unsafe driver is allowed on the road to cause a serious accident. A skilled tractor trailer accident lawyer will be able to determine if any negligent hiring practices may have lead to an unsafe driver being retained by a trucking company.

As we've discussed previously on the blog, tractor trailers and other large trucks are subject to different regulations than the average passenger car. This is because of the extra dangers posed by commercial motor vehicles in the event of a tractor trailer crash. There are guidelines to define what exactly qualifies as a commercial motor vehicle.

There are several ways a vehicle can be classified as a commercial motor vehicle. It must be used to transport people or shipments for commercial reasons and must be of a certain size. If the vehicle is 10,001 pounds or more or if it can transport 15 or more people, it falls under this distinction. A vehicle can also be classified as a commercial motor vehicle if it is transporting hazardous materials.

Companies that use vehicles of this classification must register the vehicle and follow all federal motor carrier guidelines. Some states have altered the guidelines for the unique situations in their part of the country. When dealing with a truck accident here in the Show Me State, it is important to contact an experienced Missouri tractor trailer lawyer who has extensive knowledge about our specific laws.

While most vehicles that meet the above criteria are subject to the commercial motor vehicle regulations, some exceptions are made. School buses and ambulances do not fall under the same classification and neither do vehicles that are being used for non-commercial uses. This does not mean these vehicles are exempted from any regulation, however, they just don't have the same guidelines as tractor trailers being used in commercial shipping. Again, a truck accident attorney with enough experience will easily be able determine which regulations apply to your case.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's main objective is to make workplaces safe for employees and other citizens. On their website they have suggestions specifically for trucking companies and any organization that operates large trucks as part of their day-to-day business. These suggestions are designed to reduce the number of serious truck accident injuries and fatalities. They also recognize companies that are utilizing these suggestions effectively.

OSHA says that companies need a driver safety program and offers learning materials to companies to help them start one. Aside from simply listing safe driving strategies, they recommend creating a culture of safety where safe practices are rewarded. The attitudes of employees must be in the right place first before any safety tips will help. Once you have employees committed, then you can start to implement the tips on www.osha.gov. If you are an employer who uses large trucks in your business, I strongly recommend taking a look at their suggestions.

Among the companies they spotlight is Nationwide Insurance. They have a private motor fleet as part of their business and in 1998 they started a driver safety program with their employees. As a result, they saw their rate of preventable crashes drop by more than 50 percent. What makes that stat even more impressive is the national rate of accidents actually rose during that same period.

Other companies that had similar results were Charter Communications and GM.

Unfortunately, some companies don't implement these driver safety programs, putting profits ahead of safety while putting innocent people at risk in the process. These are the companies that made the national rate of tractor trailer and large truck accidents rise over the last decade.

These companies need to be held accountable for negligent practices. If you have been involved in a wreck with a large truck or commercial shipping vehicle, contact a Missouri truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. Truck accident cases are incredibly time sensitive and if you delay, you may lose your chance to recover damages to help your recovery.

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.