Personal InjuryUnsafe Trucks Kill Thousands Annually in Car Accidents
In 2002, an 18-wheel truck carrying a trailer load of sand crossed the road's centerline and collided with an SUV driven by a woman and her family who were returning from a holiday shopping trip on a Texas state highway. As a result of this horrific truck accident, the woman, her 14-year-old son, 70-year-old mother, and 17-year-old daughter, pregnant with twins, all died. The only survivor was her daughter's 14-month-old son. The truck driver, an illegal immigrant with a history of arrests and truck safety violations, had used a fake social security number to get a commercial driving license. After the crash, the truck driver told his employers that he had illegally entered the U.S., had exaggerated his truck-driving experience, and had used a fake social security number. Incredibly, the trucking company allowed him to drive for another18 months.
In 2007, the driver of a fully loaded, 75-ton gravel truck, lost control and plowed into a car killing the father of two daughters in Detroit. The truck driver had been taking the powerful epilepsy drug Tegretol, an anti-seizure medication known to cause drowsiness and delayed reaction time. After this tragic car accident, the truck driver admitted that he had received no formal training from his employer, and that he had failed to inspect the truck's brakes and tires.
In 2008, 17 Vietnamese-American Catholics were killed in a terrible bus accident when their bus blew a tire and crashed. The faulty tire had been retreaded in violation of federal safety standards. The bus company was owned by an individual who had simply changed the name of the company that had been compelled to take its vehicles off the road after many safety violations. The case underscored a disturbing trend: Companies found in violation of safety standards continue operating often by just changing the company's name. A 2009 GAO report found that more than 1,000 trucking companies had used this tactic.
Trucks Accidents Cause 4,000 Deaths 80,000 Injuries Every Year
The alarming fact is, the majority of the 30 million Americans driving on U.S. roads and highways are unaware of a most troubling statistic: They're sharing the road with over 200,000 dangerous trucks.
"A recent report released by the American Association for Justice revealed that more than 28,000 trucking companies, representing more than 200,000 trucks operating on U.S. roads had safety violations," noted personal injury attorney John Bisnar. "The most glaring violations were defective brakes, bad tires, loads that dangerously exceeded weight limits, and drivers with little or no training or drug and alcohol problems. This creates a huge potential for serious injuries and deaths. Incredibly, some trucking companies even used salary systems that encouraged truck drivers to exceed maximum driving hours and speed limits."
These disturbing statistics point to an increasingly hazardous problem for both motorists and truckers: Although trucks constitute less than four percent of all passenger vehicles on U.S. roads, they are involved in 12 percent of all motor vehicle deaths caused by truck accidents. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revealed that over 4,000 people die annually in collisions with trucks, and another 80,000 are seriously injured. In 2007 alone, over 143,000 large trucks were involved in non-fatal crashes. Many of these truck accidents could be prevented if trucking companies would just comply with safety standards instead of cutting corners to enhance profits.
One in Five Trucks Fail Announced Safety Inspections
In June 2009, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance set up roadside inspections across the country. Four months advance notice of these inspections was given to the trucking industry, so there was ample warning to fix potential problems. Surprisingly, 22.2 percent of trucks failed inspection and were removed from service. States with the highest rate of federal safety violations were West Virginia, Vermont, Iowa, North Dakota, and Nebraska.
For more information, read "The Seven Fatal Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Personal Injury Claim" by California personal injury attorney John Bisnar. The book is free to accident victims--just go to www.BestAttorneyBooks.com to get a copy sent to you, or you can buy one at www.Amazon.com. Please see additional BISNAR | CHASE Orange County car accident lawyers.
Newport Beach Office
1-800-561-4887
(click on icons for more information)
SLS Consulting
