Driver Fatigue Accidents

Driver Fatigue Truck Accidents in Georgia
Georgia Trucking Company Negligence Lawyers

An out-of-control 80,000-pound large truck can cause tremendous damage to life, limb, and property. A 4,000-pound car is no match for the size, weight, and height of a tractor-trailer truck. The people occupying a vehicle struck by a big-rig are in imminent danger or death or serious bodily injury. Surviving the wreck is simply miraculous at times. The threat is ever present on Georgia’s interstates and highways.

Despite the clear danger presented by large trucks, they remain the most efficient method of transporting goods across our great nation. Regulators comprehend the danger posed by large trucks. Regulators must balance the need for safety with the requirements of facilitating commerce. Therefore, federal agencies like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issue regulations with those requirements in mind. Both truckers and trucking companies must adhere to these rules.

Closely adhering to the regulations can be time-consuming, inefficient, and expensive. Notwithstanding the safety issues commensurate with failing to follow all federal and state safety regulations, some trucking companies are less than scrupulous when shipping goods. As a result, the lack of adherence to industry regulations endangers everyone on the road.

Trucking companies bear the responsibility to their drivers and the public as a whole to employ well trained and safety conscious drivers. A trucking company is further responsible for deploying a fleet of safe and well-maintained tractors and trailers. A trucking company that does not conduct safety inspections to be certain their fleet is safe to be on the road is gambling with people’s lives. Trucking companies must make certain that brakes have been inspected before departing on the run. Additionally, tires must be inspected, along with safety systems, such as steering and lights. Furthermore, any load hauled by the tractor must be loaded and secured consistent with federal and state regulations.

Perhaps most significantly, the trucking company must employ well-trained drivers with a proven safety record. Trucking companies bear the responsibility to provide training on equipment used by the company. Trucking companies have an obligation to employ competent drivers and other employees as well. If a supervisor or other company official gains knowledge of unsafe practices such as failing to load a truck properly, they must stop the practice and retrain that employee. Similarly, the trucking company must not allow a driver to continue on a journey who is in violation of the hourly limitations established by federal regulations. A trucking company’s failure to comply with these duties may subject them to discipline by federal and state regulators but may also expose them to civil liability as well if the trucking company was negligent.

Skilled and experienced trucking company negligence attorneys will scrutinize the trucking companies behavior and practices to determine whether the company’s negligence contributed to the crash. The crash may not be the sole fault of the truck driver. A thorough examination of the evidence and a complete investigation into the crash and the surrounding circumstances of the truck crash could reveal negligence on behalf of the trucking company.

A trucking company is liable for damages if their negligence contributed to the crash. Therefore, a trucking company could be liable to a truck crash victim and their family for past, present, and future medical bills, lost wages, loss of future economic opportunities, wrongful death, and survivor benefits as well.

The time you have to legally receive compensation is limited.

Sources: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/passenger-safety/inspection-repair-and-maintenance-motor-carriers-passengers-part-396