Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has stated that U.S. truck and bus regulators are not taking steps to prevent serious safety hazards before fatal crashes.  The NTSB claims that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has known about deficiencies in bus company practices before some fatal crashes but took no steps to correct them.  The government agency, FMCSA, has known about these deficiencies before the deadly fatal accidents, but did not take any action to shut down carriers until afterwards.  The National Transportation Safety Board chairman said in a statement that some are under investigation by the agency. 

The report said that there has been a long period of time, maybe years, that the FMCSA has chosen not to take action against some bus companies despite repeated safety citations.  The report also reinforced the fact that the FMCSA did nothing to take some of the buses off the road. 

The chairman of NTSB, Deborah Hersman, said in a statement that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration needs to crack down before crashes occur, not just after high visibility events.  Ms. Hersman also stated that poorly performing bus companies were on the FMCSA’s radar for violations, but the federal regulators didn’t take any action and allowed these bus companies to continue operating.

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The number of highway deaths in the United States in 2012 rose to 33,561.  This was an increase of more than 1,000 deaths from 2011.  This data was provided preliminarily by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The same report of data from NHTSA revealed that the number of deaths of occupants in large trucks and semi-trailer trucks increased substantially for the third consecutive year.  The increase was 8.9% in 2012 from the previous year. 

According to NHTSA information, there were 697 large truck occupant deaths that occurred in 2012. That was a 20% increase in fatalities of large truck occupants from 2011. 

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published recent data showing that the number of large trucks (those weighing more than 10,000 lbs.) involved in deadly crashes has risen. In 2011, 3,608 trucks were involved in fatal crashes. The 2011 numbers are an increase of 3 percent from 2010 and a 12 percent increase from 2009.

In the United States, 3,757 individuals died in large truck crashes in 2011. More than 80,000 were injured in truck-related crashes.

Even though the numbers are rising, truck drivers or professional drivers abide by the traffic and highway laws in most cases. More than 83 percent of truck drivers compared to 65 percent of drivers of other passenger vehicles use their seat belts. Truck drivers are much less likely to be drinking alcohol when driving than other motorists. 

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Illinois has adopted House Bill 1247, which puts an end to the uncertainty as to whether drivers around the state can use hand-held wireless telephones while driving. Under the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn, a person may not operate a vehicle on a roadway while using an electronic communication device. The law was passed to put to an end to the confusion from town, municipality to city as to what the law is relating to hand-held devices throughout Illinois.

Violation of this section is an offense against traffic regulations, which would result in a maximum fine of $75 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, $125 for the third offense and $150 for the fourth offense.

The law does spell out some exceptions for law enforcement officers or persons operating emergency vehicles. The new law applies directly to those using wireless telephones. The act does cover portable or mobile computers and hand-held personal digital assistant devices.

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Many truck accidents are caused by truck driver fatigue. There are new federal restrictions on the number of hours a driver can be in service under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which created the hours-of-service rules. Under these new rules, a driver is limited with respect to how long he or she may drive a commercial motor vehicle without a break. 

Truck accidents and truck driver fatigue are linked based on many years of study. The Interstate Commerce Commission began limiting hours in which a commercial truck driver could operate a truck beginning in 1937.Recently, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has emphasized the need to limit the hours that a truck driver may drive without a break. 

The purpose behind the revised regulations deals with the connection between truck driver fatigue and accidents on the highways. It is well known that a driver who has driven for many hours is at greater risk of a crash than one without extended hours on the road.

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Paul Junod, 51, a locomotive mechanic, fell from an elevated platform while changing shock absorbers at the Illinois Central Railroad’s Woodcrest shop in Homewood, Ill.  Junod suffered multiple fractures of his left wrist with median and radial nerve damage, which required open reduction internal fixation with a plate and screws inserted. Following the June 26, 2006 incident, Junod also developed post traumatic arthritis, chronic pain and increasing impairment of the hand. He will need future surgeries for hardware removal, nerve decompression and a possible wrist fusion.

Junod contended that the railroad chose not to provide him with adequate equipment to perform his job, which included a high-torque impact gun with deep well impact sockets, forcing him to use a breaker bar and box wrench to remove nuts from the shock absorbers. This made the task more difficult and allegedly caused Junod to lose his balance and fall off the platform.

Junod also argued that the platform was not equipped with handrails and a toe-board as required.

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A Los Angeles County jury entered a verdict in favor of the family who died in a fiery crash with a semi-trailer truck on Thanksgiving 2009. 

The Asam family was on its way from California to Oregon to visit relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Kylie Asam, who was 9 at the time, and her 11-year-old brother, Blaine, managed to escape from the family’s SUV after it was hit from behind by the semi-trailer truck on Interstate 210.

Kylie and Blaine unfortunately saw their parents and an older brother get burned alive after the vehicle they were trapped in caught fire. 

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The amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code expands the existing ban on e-mailing while driving.  The new act goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2014. The law prohibits the use of all electronic communication devices while driving with a few narrow exceptions. 

Except for hands-free telephone use, GPS navigation, CB and Ham radios and emergency situations, Illinois drivers will be prohibited from using electronic communication devices.  This would obviously include handheld mobile telephones, texting and e-mailing. 

The new law reads this way:  A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a roadway while using an electronic communication device.  The Public Act 98-0506  originally contained words at the end of the current act that read: “. . . to compose, send or read an electronic message.” The way the law is written now, there should be no confusion.

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On April 10, 2010, Daniel Coile, 33, went to Shepherd’s Closet, a store, to pick up a desk purchased by his mother. Coile was told that he would need to load the desk into his car by way of a loading dock at the rear of the store.  Shepherd’s Closet or Closet Two is located in Gibson City, Ill.

At the loading dock there was an unsecured railroad tie that went along the face of the dock. While Coile was attempting to load the desk, he placed his left foot on the railroad tie to get closer to the dock, but the tie slid as he lifted the desk causing his left knee to twist.

Coile suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee and required reconstructive surgery and physical therapy. As a result of his injury, Coile was unable to work for 4 months as a deputy sheriff.

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On Jan. 14, 2010, Anthony Rossi was driving eastbound on 95th Street in Oak Lawn, Ill.  The corner of his car was hit by a semi-tractor-trailer truck on the same eastbound 95th Street driven by the defendant, Steven Groft, as he was changing lanes.  The crash caused Rossi’s car to spin out of control. 

Rossi, age 28, refused to be taken to a hospital by ambulance, but later drove himself to the emergency room at Christ Hospital.  The defendants defended the case, arguing for limiting the severity of Rossi’s injuries.

Rossi maintained that he suffered a ligamentous cervical injury (whiplash), facet joint syndrome, aggravation of cervical spondylosis and chronic neck pain, which required a series of facet and trigger point injections and nerve ablations. Rossi had applied for a job as a Cook County Correctional Officer. He was not hired. Rossi claimed that his injuries from the crash prevented him from being hired by the County.  He is now unemployed and a stay-at-home father.

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