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It's a typical January morning as Sally leaves her home in Murray and enters I-15 headed for work at a law firm in downtown Salt Lake City. It is 7:30 a.m.
At the same time a large semi loaded with steel windows is approaching from the South. The driver, a long-haul veteran of 20 years over-the-road service for a major national trucking company has been up since 3:30 a.m.
Suddenly the driver slumps forward, lack of sleep from week-long road trip have caught up with him. His truck drifts slowly to the right, into the adjacent lane.
“BANG!” The trucker's right-side mirror has just clipped the mirror of a flat bed truck in the adjacent lane.
The noise and accompanying jolt are enough to wake the trucker but his hasty response now imperils other drivers. He overcorrects into the left-lane where Sally is motoring peacefully to work.
The sudden impact abruptly changes Sally's direction and she veers sharply across the media into southbound I-15 traffic. The head-on collision ends Sally's life and that of the southbound driver.
The Logbook
In the truck accident legal case that followed, the lawyer for Sally's family requested the driver's logbook.
The logbook showed that the driver had been on the road for only two hours. Suspicious, the family's lawyer, requested bills of lading, fuel receipts, and electronic data from the Global Positioning System used by the driver's company to track his whereabouts.
The GPS data showed what the lawyer had suspected–the logbooks were falsified.
“The trucking industry appears to spend more time doctoring reports, falsifying logs and covering up fault than they do screening and training drivers,” says Frank B. a prominent Texas personal injury lawyer.
Federal law requires interstate drivers to record, either in written or digital “logbook” how they spend their workday. An interstate trucker is limited to 11 hours over a fourteen hour period. And once that eleven hours are up he must take a rest break lasting for at least ten straight hours.
Driver Fatigue
Truck driver fatigue is a major safety problem in truck accident legal cases. Some studies, including two by the National Transportation Safety Board, indicate that truck driver fatigue is a factor in 30 to 40% of severe crashes.
With driver fatigue and logbook falsification both being serious problems, the development and of electronic technology for the trucking industry has become a subject of considerable controversy.
What To Do In Case Of A Truck Crash
Here are some tips to follow if you are involved in a truck accident legal matter:
1. Never sign anything under pressure;
2. Take photographs and/or video of the crash site and the vehicles involved in the truck accident legal matter;
3. Do not sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle involved in the crash;
4. Collect and preserve evidence after the crash;
5. Contact investigating authorities immediately.
Truck Accident Legal Resources
Truck Safety Advocate Newsletter
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways
Washington, DC 20044-4380
Report to Congress on the Large Truck Crash Causation Study
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
Disclaimer
This article is provided for informational purposes only. Seek advice from an experienced truck accident lawyer as to specific legal principles applicable to your case.
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