A tractor-trailer truck that was cruising a highway in Oklahoma approached about a dozen stopped cars and trucks. They were stopped because of a fender-bender. Instead of slowing down and approaching with caution, the 40,000-pound truck plowed through the congestion at roughly 70 mph. The truck ran over three cars, dragging them under its wheels. The truck also slammed through several other vehicles before finally coming to a stop. In all, ten people were killed by the semi truck, according to the Associated Press. Instigators believe that the driver of that truck only slept for about five hours prior to his 10 hour journey.
Because of this accident, and a recently string of other serious trucking accidents, the NTSB conducted a two-day forum in an attempt to gain safety perspectives from safety experts, federal regulators and the truck and bus industries to see what is currently being done to prevent these deadly truck accidents in Texas and elsewhere.
Our Houston trucking accident lawyers have seen the increase in deadly and tragic trucking accident in the past few months and continue to wonder why previous safety recommendations have yet to be enacted. Some of these proposed regulations are even decades old. It is clear that something needs to be done to help preserve the safety of motorists when traveling near these large trucks.
While many say trucking regulations have come a long way and have prevented a substantial number of fatalities, there is no denying that more work needs to be done.
"From an economic standpoint, it would do a great deal of harm to this industry and wouldn't improve safety," said Dave Osiecki, senior vice president at the American Trucking Associations.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were nearly 3,500 fatalities because of traffic accidents that involved large trucks last year. Another 74,000 people were injured in these types of accidents. It is estimated that in the United States in 2009, roughly 296,000 large trucks (with the gross vehicle weight rater of more than 10,000 pounds) were involved in traffic accidents. In 2009, Texas witnessed nearly 300 trucks in fatal traffic accidents. Many experts believe that these numbers will only increase as the economy continues to recover.
"Even if you don't necessarily have more crashes, when there is a crash, there is more damage," said Henry Jasny, general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
The Obama administration has stepped in an attempt to toughen truck regulations. The government proposed that these trucks come equipped with devices to record the number of hours that a driver spends behind the wheel. Current recording systems are simply paper systems and allow records to be easily falsified. Since about a third of commercial motor vehicle accidents are due to fatigue, these electronic recording systems would help to keep sleepy drivers from behind the wheel. The administration would like to even take it a step farther by limiting the number of hours that a driver can spend behind the wheel. Currently, drivers are allowed 11 driving hours and the administration would like it reduced to 10. The proposal would also enforce mandatory rest breaks. Drivers would be limited to an overall work day of 14 hours and would be required to have more rest between shifts. The government would also like to limit their work week to 60 hours.
"We must remind ourselves that each data point in these statistics represents a family member that will never come home to loved ones," NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a trucking accident in Houston or any of the surrounding areas, contact the Truck Accident Attorneys at The Stephens Law Firm at (713) 224-0000.
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