With the ownership or operation of a motor vehicle comes great responsibility. There are precautions and rules that everyone behind the wheel should acknowledge and follow, in order for all of us to remain as safe as possible on public roadways.

Rules of the road are the most obvious safety precautions. The way you drive and the habits you adopt, both good or bad, affect everyone using the roadway. Bad habits simply are an accident waiting to happen:

• Failing to maintain control over your vehicle at all times;
• Jack-rabbit starts from lights;
• Weaving in and out of traffic;
• Tailgating;
• Speeding;
• Rolling stops;
• Impaired driving.

All of these are poor driving habits, but there are also conditions ripe for an accident, which simply go unnoticed by drivers:

• Check your tires regularly for wear and inflation — under or over inflated tires will fail to hold the roadway;
• Check your brakes — failing brakes or problem brakes may cause you to be unable to avoid a collision;
• Check your windshield wipers — smeared windows, especially combined with direct sun or headlights, can obscure your ability to see the roadway;
• Check your brake lights — people driving behind you must know when you are stopping;
• Check your turn signals and use them;
• Check engine belts — the loss of power steering or overheating at high speeds could cause disastrous problems with control over the vehicle.

Advanced preparation for the unknown is also critical in auto safety. Consider keeping the following items with you in your car in the event of an emergency situation:

• Driver’s license
• Insurance verification card
• Most current car registration
• Note paper
• Pen or pencil
• Reflectors
• First aid kit
• Screwdriver
• Small hammer
• Pliers
• Jumper cables
• DC tire compressor or tire pump
• Cell phone
• Telephone numbers (car service assistance, police, highway patrol, etc.)

Safety for your passengers is your responsibility as well. Everyone in the car should be seat belted in and children should have the proper booster seat or infant carrier. Talking on the cell phone and texting must be limited to when you are parked safely and not driving. Remember, driving is a big responsibility — you hold in your hands your life, the lives of your passengers and the lives of others on the roadway.

So think before you get behind the wheel and use a few simple safety measures to make sure your driving experience is a fun and safe one for everyone in your vehicle and on the road.

Visit our Vehicle Accident Checklist website for information about being ready for the unfortunate event of an accident.

• Driving too fast for conditions.
• Logging too many hours without taking appropriate breaks.
• Shoddy vehicle maintenance.
• Inadequate training.
• Driver inattention.

While these potential root causes will always need to be thoroughly evaluated in any trucking accident case, new tools need to be employed in attempting to establish why a crash involving a big rig occurred. One thing that has not changed, however, is the need to deploy these new techniques as quickly as possible after an accident before the data is lost or destroyed, either accidentally or intentionally.

Perhaps the most critical piece of data in examining the root cause of a trucking accident that needs to be explored is a download of the involved tractor’s “black box.” The black box, or electronic data recorders (“EDR”), is essentially a computer module that monitors and records critical data points when certain circumstances occur, including a sudden and unexpected loss of the semi’s velocity. Although the universe of data that is captured by the EDR varies according to the engine’s manufacturer, typical information includes throttle, clutch, and brake application; in addition to vehicle speed; and whether or not the cruise control was engaged. Rather than just covering a few fleeting seconds before an event occurs, the EDR can capture almost two minutes of data before a crash occurs. The captured data can then be downloaded by a trained technician and can provide powerful evidence as to what a truck driver and the semi itself were doing immediately before the crash, providing the backbone for the accident’s reconstruction.

Some commercial semis are also equipped with technology that can actually help a truck driver avoid a collision. Using sensitive radars, the accident avoidance system can alert drivers to another vehicle in their blind spot or even slowing ahead. In the event of a crash, the data from the accident avoidance system can also be downloaded in an effort to recreate precisely what information was being communicated to the driver immediately before the crash occurred.

In the modern transportation age, semis are often dispatched electronically to their next destination. Electronic dispatch records are often integrated with global positioning systems which precisely track an individual tractor trailer’s location, movement, and speed.

Unfortunately, and often with tragic consequences, drivers of commercial motor vehicles sometimes make the dangerous choice of texting while driving or allowing themselves to become distracted by engaging in conversations on a cell phone. A truck drivers cell phone records, whether provided by the trucker’s employer or a personal cell, can provide powerful evidence about the possibility of driver inattention due to cell phone usage.

This data, however, will not live forever. In the days and weeks following a crash, the involved tractor can be repaired and put back into service, risking the potential for the data being written over or erased. If the crash was violent enough and the semi is incapable of being repaired, it can be sold for scrap, and in the process, destroying the critical data before it can be accessed. Digital and hardcopy files are often discarded or recycled. Similar to skid marks and witnesses’ memories, the passage of time can result in the loss of data that is critically important in performing a thorough accident investigation and recreation of a crash involving a tractor trailer.

Accordingly, if you or someone you love has been injured in a crash involving a tractor trailer, it is important that you secure legal representation as soon as possible to ensure that the available data and information is appropriately secured.

There was a time I remember when truck drivers were called the “knights of the road”? They had a reputation for safety and for helping those stranded on lonely roadways. In those days, the truck drivers served a romantic notion of the open road while on their long journeys; carrying the freight of America from East, West, North and South. I still remember driving by trucks and reaching out the window to give the motion of pulling down on an imaginary cord, just to hear the trucker respond with that wonderful air-horn.

Then trains began increasing competition with trucking companies for freight transfer. The piggyback system ate into the profits of the long haul truckers. Why pay a driver benefits with gas and insurance when you could simply drive your trailer to a train, load it on and deliver by having a tractor meet it at the destination for delivery. Competition quickly became, and still is, the name of the game and public safety has increasingly become its casualty.

Why does there seem to be an increase in trucking crashes?

The obvious two factors are increasing competition and the fact that there are more truck drivers on the road and this results in the human risks to increase proportionally.

The Federal government through the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution regulates the trucking industry. One important piece of legislation is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act (FMCSA). This act regulates many aspects pertaining to driver safety.

One of the very important aspects is the FMCSA hours of service rules and regulations. The sections of the FMCSA pertaining to Hours of Service can be found at 392.1 Scope of the rules in this part and 392.2 Applicable operating rules and 392.3 Ill or fatigued operator. Driver fatigue is the cause or a major contributing cause of the majority of truck crashes. It would seem that the enforcement of these rules would ease the problem of fatigued drivers.

Section 392.3 of the Act sets forth that:

“No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver’s ability or alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness, or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle. However, in a case of grave emergency where the hazard to occupants of the commercial motor vehicle or other users of the highway would be increased by compliance with this section the driver may continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle to the nearest place at which that hazard is removed.”

Section 395.3 of the Act sets forth that:

Subject to the exceptions and exemptions in §395.1:

(a) No motor carrier shall permit or require any driver used by it to drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, nor shall any such driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle:

(a)(1) More than 11 cumulative hours following 10 consecutive hours off-duty; or

(a)(2) For any period after the end of the 14th hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty, except when a property-carrying driver complies with the provisions of §395.1(o) or §395.1(e)(2).

(b) No motor carrier shall permit or require a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle to drive, nor shall any driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver’s services, for any period after —

(b)(1) Having been on duty 60 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days if the employing motor carrier does not operate commercial motor vehicles every day of the week; or

(b)(2) Having been on duty 70 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days if the employing motor carrier operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.

(c)(1) Any period of 7 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours; or

(c)(2) Any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.

In almost every truck crash case this firm has handled these laws are violated. The violations resulted in horrific crashes with victims horribly injured for life if not killed instantly. The trucking companies defend these cases even when it is hopeless.

The investigation of truck crashes requires special knowledge, skills, and handling:

A team of investigators and attorneys should be be dispatched to the crash site as soon as possible after the accident.

Both aerial and scene photographs are essential.

All evidence at the scene must be photographed, collected and preserved.

Scene schematics should be prepared with appropriate case specific designations.

Scene measurements and recordation of yaw marks on the road must be taken.

Witnesses interviewed by law enforcement should be evaluated and interviews followed up where needed.

All vehicles must be inspected and painstakingly photographed.

All vehicles should be inspected and evaluated by experts.

Letters warning against evidence spoliation must be sent to the trucking company demanding that they preserve any “black box data”.

Log books required to be kept are presumed to be false and careful inspection can uncover the fact that drivers are pressured to drive beyond the legal limits and can be connected with an unlawful or unreasonable dispatch schedule.

Inspect the trucks involved in the crash for equipment violations, which should have rendered them “out of service”.

It is unusual to receive anything but compelled cooperation from the defendant trucking companies or their employees and in most cases only the filing of a lawsuit will secure important documents before they are lost or destroyed.

Often I visit a scene where a family has been was devastated because a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a truck crash. When are we going to finally do something to protect people over profits?

It seems our legislators increasingly want to protect business, including powerful trucking interests. Increasingly, it seems that the courtroom is the only place consumers can find an equalizer to corporate interests. Each day powerful interests pay the Chamber of Commerce and other lobbying groups to attack the protections provided to individual citizens.  So when you read or hear about tort reform, reach for your constitution and call your legislator and tell them you do not want your family’s rights diluted in favor of corporate profits.

In your mind imagine a truck tractor with two trailers attached to it, sitting next to an airliner. Not a great deal of difference between the two in size. Granted the 747, for example, weighs over a whopping 735,000 pounds at take off; compared to a meager weight of around 150,000 pounds for a tractor trailer.

On the other hand, the traffic in the air has not yet gotten as congested as the roadways and 747’s do not regularly drive amongst 4000 pound passenger vehicles.

So, I was shocked when I saw the comparison between airline pilots and truck drivers when it comes to suitability:

Number of Pilots: 590,000

Number of Truck Drivers: 10,000,000

Number of commercial planes: 222,000

Number of commercial trucks: 8,000,000

Pilot age limits: 65

Trucker age limits: None

Airline Industry prohibition re: narcotics: yes

Trucking Industry prohibition re: narcotics: No

Flying hours limitations: 30/week; 100/month; 1000/year

Driving hours limitations: 77/week; 88/8 days; 330/month; 4000/year

Flying hours tracked?: yes — electronic tracking

Driving hours tracked?: yes — driver kept log

Federal Regulatory budget for airlines: $14,600,000,000

Federal Regulatory budget for trucks: $500,000,000

Sobering numbers as we drive our little 4000 pound vehicles next to those 80,000 to 140,000 pound trucks, at 70+ miles per hour; after the trucker has been driving — -how many hours?

If we add to the mix of driving distractions for truckers the following: texting, using laptops, cell phones, eating, and fatigue; we have a recipe for potential trouble. Truck operational problems further aggravate the situation: braking malfunctions and tire over wear, for example. Finally, road conditions: vehicles driven by other distracted drivers; ice, rain, Florida “black ice”; and escalating vehicle population. Taking these factors into consideration, together with the above statistics, best illustrates how dangerous it really is on our roadways.

So, don’t text; don’t speed, don’t drive after drinking; and BE CAREFUL out there!

The American public is not warned about aging tires; that old tires can be dangerous; or that “brand new” tires on the store shelves may be 2, 3, or 6 years old when they are sold and put on our car.

A recent article posted by a colleague at Injury Board, Mike Bryant, provides some very useful links to an older 20/20 report that I have to confess I had completely forgotten about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Florida, apparently the heat fosters more than just mosquitoes, humidity and hurricanes. Down here in Florida, the heat also causes tires to wear at a higher rate; something that tire manufacturers have known for some time.

If the higher ambient temperatures subject tires to a higher failure rate, the age of the tire also figures importantly into the failures. Again, something tire manufacturers have known and have apparently been waiting patiently for years to be regulated about, well, by someone.

When you buy a “brand new” tire from a retailer you expect, well, a “brand new” tire. You may not get what you expect. Apparently tires can sit on shelves for 2, 3, 6 or more years before being sold. All that time, the tires are being exposed to the air, drying the rubber out and aging while they sit there on the shelf. They still look brand new; they still have great tread depth; and they still smell new; but they have been degrading the whole time.

So, how can you tell the age of your tires? Not easy with many tire manufacturers. The special coding used on many tires can only be found by crawling under the car and looking at the inside of the tire. The codes will give you tire size, location of manufacture, and the date of manufacture. The date is the important part.

Everyone should pay close attention to tire health and age, but clearly, based on studies by the National Highway Safety Administration, people in states where the ambient temperatures remain warm to hot all year should pay special attention:

• When you purchase tires ask the retailer to show you the date of manufacture.
• Do not purchase tires, which are already 3 to 6 years old.
• Check tire pressure often.
• Maintain manufacturer recommended levels of tire pressure.
• Return to the tire dealer anytime you have repeated loss of pressure in tires.
• Avoid petroleum based tire “cleaners”.
• Inspect your tires, both the exterior and interior, for wear or damage.
• If you hit something while motoring down the road, inspect your tires at your next opportunity to verify any damage.

However, regardless of Congressional action or future state cooperation in making pedestrian safety a priority, the fact that pedestrians account for approximately 1 in 10 traffic deaths nationwide is staggering.

Every time a pedestrian takes to the street, whether it be walking, jogging or biking, you should recall this statistic and:

• Be defensive;
• Assume that drivers do not see you;
• Assume drivers do not understand pedestrian traffic laws;
• Assume drivers are preoccupied with whatever drama unfolded in their lives that day;
• Assume drivers are late to wherever they are headed;
• Assume drivers are distracted, using a cell phone, reading a newspaper or magazine as they drive;
• Assume drivers are driving a vehicle with defective brakes;
• Assume there will be drivers who have been drinking,

For Floridians, pay particular attention in these “top rated” cities:

1) Orlando.

2) Tampa-St. Petersburg.

3) Miami-Ft. Lauderdale.

4) Jacksonville.

Being outside nearly year round is a perk enjoyed by few, Floridians luckily included. When doing so on bike paths and sidewalks near roads, always be on guard.

Many of you reading this blog may have never heard the song ‘Walking in Memphis,’by singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. This was an early ‘90’s homage to the land of the Delta Blues, influential Beale Street, Elvis, and countless other subtle rock music references by singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. This was an early ‘90’s homage to the land of the Delta Blues, influential Beale Street, Elvis, and countless other subtle rock music references. Evidently additional lyrics are suitable, something to the effect of: “well I was walking in Memphis, but I was hit by a car and was killed.”

Gruesome, but realistic, since Memphis is tabbed as the 5th most dangerous city for pedestrians by the aforementioned report.

Saturday morning I was on my way to my ranch to try out a nice John Deere tractor I had just purchased. I was looking forward to getting into the air conditioned cockpit and mindlessly mow acres and acres of grass. I turned north onto U.S. 27 west of Lake Placid, Florida noticing that my view to the South was somewhat impeded by the dew on the windows. I stopped at the intersection, craned my neck, reached over to the passenger window and rolled it down. No auto windows for my pickup. I looked and saw no cars in the northbound lane and pulled out looking for a McDonald’s (I like my coffee hot). The morning was unseasonably cool, but humid; one of those mornings you only get in Florida. Traffic was sparse and it was a blue cloudless sky. I stopped for a light at the major intersection in Lake Placid. Only two other vehicles were stopped with me. I had the driver’s window down. My mind was a thousand miles away and as the light changed, a horn stirred me from my reverie. I noticed the green light and got moving again. The folks in back of me seemed to be in much more of a hurry than I was and as I crested a hill, I saw a police car occupying the left hand northbound lane parked at an angle.

It immediately seemed clear that some tragedy had occurred. I followed the directions of the officer directing traffic and saw 5 police vehicles at the intersection of 27 and Lake Henry road. The road here is straight for as far as a person can see. That is when I finally saw the pickup truck alongside the road and the tragic picture of a large man pinned under the frame of the truck. A piece of a Harley Davidson motorcycle lay just beyond the truck, bent like a hand had crushed it into a small jagged ball of glistening metal. Just beyond the largest parts of the cycle lay another human form, draped in a white cloth.

He and his wife had travelled from Jacksonville to Sebring on his motorcycle. It looked to be a beautiful morning for a ride as he noticed the golden rays of the sun reflecting off his pride and joy Harley parked in the motel lot. He jumped into his jeans, shirt and the too tight Harley vest he had to wear. He was itching for breakfast and the open road. His wife, Helen, heard the door close as he hoofed it to the office for coffee and what was likely to be stale donuts. Helen sat in a chair and held hands with Bill as they sipped their coffee and tried to swallow the stale Danish. Too soon for Helen, Bill leaped up and announced it was time to hit the road.  Bill and Helen lazily pulled onto Route 27.

Another man, James, was driving his small truck to a new job; preoccupied by the nervousness he felt for the whole process of “new”, he had not worked for a month and even new meant he could feed his family.

Bill saw the small Toyota truck as it activated a left turn blinker. He was travelling at 65 mph and all Helen experienced was the feel of the air passing around her.  Bill continued with the assurance that the small truck was going to stop before he made the left hand turn. After all, you can’t miss this shiny Harley approaching.

By the time James turned, it was too late for Bill to react. It was too late for Helen to know. It was too late for James to change his direction.

The Harley could zig too little and James could not zag at all. Bill frantically braked and felt his bike crumple against the side of the truck, with his last feeling being that of Helen’s body slamming against his back. Everything went still. A slight breeze blew the oily smoke from the scene. The driver of the pickup sat stunned behind the wheel his face bleeding from impact with the steering wheel.

A vehicle driving north came upon the scene and slowed. A little girl in the back seat had her face glued to the rear window and her father and mother drove past the scene and parked in the median south of the very quiet scene. His daughter was whimpering, “Daddy is the man O.K.? Why is he laying on the road under the truck…?” The father, opened the door, looked for traffic and looked at his daughter, “honey the man is sleeping. He will be O.K.” He was trembling as he punched 911 into his cell phone.

I trembled much later as I passed this very sad scene.

This is fictionalized. I filled in the blanks of what may have happened, what could have happened. I could do this because I have relived similar scenes with clients who were injured or lost loved ones in car and motorcycle crashes.

The scene I passed was all too real and it occupied my thoughts until today when I set this to paper. I thank the reader for your patience and I encourage each of you to set out driving as a single minded effort—a job, exclusive of everything else. That job may just keep you or a loved one alive to wake yet another day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If I am alone in this regard, then I have just outed myself as an anxious, neurotic, pessimist.  However, when I see a story like this one reported on WLTX in Columbia, SC, I am reminded that accidents like these do not always happen to the “other guy” because one of us is always going to be that “other guy”. They are a tragic reality on the asphalt arteries dominated by tractor trailers whose bodies are unwieldy, loads can be dangerous and drivers are sometimes fatigued.  Such a combination poses a constant threat to other vehicles and often yields devastating consequences.

On October 5, 2005, a University of Washington professor was killed when an overloaded logging truck lost its load.  This preventable death was one of over 5,000 attributable to tractor trailers in that year alone, not to mention over 100,000 injuries attributable to same.

Federal laws regulating commercial vehicles exist.  For example, there are length and width limitations, all commercial vehicles are required to pass annual safety inspections, and all owners and operators are subject to fitness tests, to name a few.
Compartmental regulations are all well and good, but the one thing that is beyond regulation is the final product.  For example, one knows the makeup and ingredients of a single shot of Patron gold tequila, and likewise any other individual liquors; such can be measured, quantified, inspected.  But when that tequila is mixed with other known quantities of vodka, gin, rum and triple sec, the result is a drastically different mixture whose effect on the imbiber is far more potent and dangerous than that of a single shot of any of the above-named.  The combination and the effect cannot be measured, anticipated, quantified, regulated.  And like the morning-after effects of Long Island Iced Tea, the loaded to maximum capacity, maximum length, maximum width commercial vehicle, that sets out on the road in the early pre-dawn hours, with an operator who has not slept in 48 hours is a potentially lethal, unable to be regulated until it is to late menace to our highways with every RPM.

As it currently stands, the maximum weight of a commercial vehicle is 80,000 pounds.  At an average highway speed of 60 mph (I am, at 70 plus mph on the interstate, routinely passed), it neither takes an expert in physics to understand the damage this could, and does, cause, nor to envision how difficult it would be for an operator (even a well-rested, fresh operator) to stay in control of such a beast.  However, knowing this is the case, there are efforts underway to convince federal lawmakers to increase the maximum weight to 97,000 pounds. Can you imagine any scenario in which a nearly 50 ton vehicle going 70 plus mph would not be a juggernaut of destruction?

When will senseless and preventable deaths at the hands of overloaded tractor trailers dwindle … when companies put public safety before private gain.

This is a problem, but there are solutions!  Visit such websites as www.roadsafeamerica.org or stopbigtrucks.org to learn more.

Whether you know you have a claim or whether you want to pursue a claim in the event you have one is not the only basis for seeking legal representation. The initial reason to timely seek legal representation is to preserve evidence, witness knowledge, and examine your legal rights. Attorneys can only advise clients what their legal rights are and make recommendations on whether and how to pursue those cases having merit. Ultimately, the decision to pursue a legal claim is solely yours.

If, however, too much time passes between the occurrence of an injury and the beginning of an investigation, evidence may be lost and the recollection of witnesses (including you) may grow dim. So, gathering facts can be crucial to preserving your legal rights.
If you are involved in any accident, there are some basic things you or someone on your behalf can do:
Obtain the names, addresses, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses;

• Obtain the name(s), addresses. E-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of anyone who may be responsible for your injuries. In an automobile accident, that may be the person who rear ended you, but if, for example, the other driver pulled out in front of you because “the bushes were blocking my view”, an additional potentially responsible party may be the property owner of the bushes.
• Record the type of vehicles; including the make, model, license tag number, and the type of damage to each vehicle.
• If your vehicle is inoperable, try to determine the location to which it is being towed.
• Take photographs. Nearly every cell telephone has the capacity to take basic photographs of the scene of any accident. In an automobile accident, photograph all the vehicles; photograph the damages to each vehicle; photograph the scene by standing out of traffic and shooting a series of pictures moving from the left to the right of the entire scene. Photograph skid marks.
• If you can, sketch the scene and include the relative location of vehicles when they ultimately came to rest.
• Obtain investigating officers names and telephone numbers.

Any time you are injured, the very first priority needs to be your injuries and getting them attended. Never place yourself in a position of peril in attempting to obtain evidence. If people are unwilling to volunteer information, do not try to force them. When an accident occurs, emotions are often high. Your goal, or someone acting on your behalf, is not to take the place of skilled police officers or investigators.

If you are unable to do any of this at the scene because you are injured, ask a friend, spouse, or other person to do it for you to the extent that is possible.

Call an attorney to determine your rights.

Some tires are defective and without warning the tread can separate causing a terrible crash.  When a tire blows or separates suddenly there is a good chance that your vehicle will roll over resulting in serious injuries and/or death.  The likelihood of a crash and injuries or fatalities from such a crash, is far greater when the tread separation occurs on a SUV compared to if the tread separation occurs on a sedan or large pickup truck instead.

There have been several tire recalls involving Bridgestone, Continental Tire, Cooper Tire, Firestone Tire, Goodyear Tire, Kelly Springfield Tire and Yokohama Tire. 

This type of crash could happen to anyone.  Inspect your tires on a regular basis, check the date they were manufactured, check the internet and be aware of publicized recalls. If you or a loved one is involved in a crash that could be the result of faulty tires, be advised that there is a legal remedy available and do not hesitate to seek justice.

See the hyperlinks below for additional information:

http://www.recalls.gov/nhtsa.html
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blfirestone.htm