It is rare to travel on Louisiana roadways without encountering a large truck. Semi-trucks and tractor-trailer trucks are frequently used by businesses to ship and transport goods intrastate and interstate. Truck drivers are expected to follow the same safety rules as any motorist; however, they are also required to follow safety regulations related to their job as a truck driver.
Federal regulations dictate how long a truck driver can operate a truck in a set time period and how often and how long their breaks must be. While these measures are taken to ensure safety on the roadways, truck accidents still occur, resulting in major accident sites with serious injuries and even fatalities.
FMCSA and trucking safety
Researchers have uncovered safety issues that remain persistent in the trucking industry. These issues are those that are have been contributing to the truck accidents occurring across the nation. Although solutions deemed practical are presented to the FMCSA, they continue to overlook them or reject them.
One major issue is truck driver fatigue. The concerns related to drowsy driving are well known, and truck drivers are motorists most likely to be impacted by sleepiness while behind the wheel. While reducing stretches of time behind the wheel and increasing the number of breaks and the length of breaks would help address that, the FMCSA took a very different move on the hours of service regulations. Early this year, they changed these rules, taking away rest breaks.
Lax safety rules contributing to truck accidents
Recently, safety rules regarding large trucks on the roadways have been rolled back despite efforts to make them stricter to promote safety on the roadways. This has resulted in more driving and work hours for truck drivers, permitting extra-long trucks and overweight trucks to travel on the roadways and keeping critical information regarding government safety inspections hidden from the public.
A truck accident can be a very devastating and tragic incident. Oftentimes, victims suffer severe and fatal injuries. Such an accident can alter the lives of victims and their loved ones. Thus, it is imperative to understand what can be done to offset this. If a negligent truck driver or trucking company is to blame, measures could be taken to hold them accountable. A personal injury action or wrongful death suit could be filed, helping to address the damages caused by a truck accident.