Regulations mandating electronic logbooks for commercial truck drivers were intended to decrease the rate of accidents. Unfortunately, this measure has not been effective so far in reducing the problem, and it appears to have resulted in more unsafe driving violations. A truck accident lawyer in College Park represents clients who have been seriously harmed in a collision with one of these large, heavy vehicles.
Electronic Tracking
The electronic logbooks track the hours a driver spends on the road, preventing the fudging of records that had long been a frequent problem in the world of long-haul trucking. Extra time spent driving allowed the workers to complete pickups and deliveries as requested by customers and scheduled by dispatch. Now, with electronic tracking, drivers sometimes feel pressured to travel at higher speeds to accomplish the work in a shorter time frame.
Increased Accident Rate
Instead of the accident rate decreasing as more companies began having the equipment installed in the cabs, the rate has climbed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that truck accidents were more frequent in 2017 than had been the case in more than a decade. Although these incidents are less common than collisions between passenger vehicles, accidents involving heavy trucks are more likely to cause fatalities. In 2017, nearly 4,800 people were killed in heavy truck accidents. Approximately 1,300 of them were truckers.
Serious Incidents
A truck accident lawyer in College Park represents clients who were injured, as well as families of people killed in these incidents. A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed when a fatality occurs because a truck driver was racing to beat the clock. A truck tipping over on a roundabout or other sharp curve is just one example of the possible danger. Legal representation is provided by organizations such as the Jaklitsch Law Group.
Although the employer may try to blame the driver for making questionable decisions, research indicates that trucking companies often use coercive tactics to convince drivers to do whatever it takes. That leads to unsafe behavior behind the wheel, which is proving to have significantly worse effects than illegally extending the hours of service.
