Serious Injuries, Wrongful Death and Truck Driver Fatigue
Unfortunately, the title of this entry is something we have witnessed in our practice far too many times. Each year in Georgia, truck driver fatigue contributes to serious collisions involving tractor-trailers and automobiles. Even though the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has very specific regulations concerning the number of hours that a driver may operate a tractor-trailer, what we have seen in our practice is that oftentimes these regulations are deliberately ignored and completely disregarded. Drivers logs, which are required by law to be kept by interstate carriers, are oftentimes falsified. We have seen cases were duplicate logs were kept in order to conceal the excessive hours being driven by the company’s truck driver. We have also seen many cases where they has been a complete failure by the employer/trucking company to enforce duty hours, log violations and other safety violations, which violations then lead to serious injuries and wrongful death claims.
Because serious injuries and wrongful death can be caused by driver fatigue, it is imperative that employers be held accountable for their lapses in this regard. Those trucking companies that allow their drivers to operate their trucks for an excessive number of hours or permit it through the “wink and nod method” where the driver is encouraged to drive more than is safe while the company, on paper, claims that they direct their drivers not to do so, obviously need to be punished. In this regard, it is important that counsel investigate a truck company’s safety and compliance programs to make sure that they are complying with the safety regulations in this area.
Beginning in the calendar year 2003, tractor-trailer drivers were permitted to drive eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off duty. Tractor-trailer drivers may not drive beyond the fourteenth hour after coming on duty, following ten hours off duty. Tractor-trailer drivers may not drive after being on duty for sixty hours and a seven consecutive day period or seventy hours in an eight consecutive day period. This on duty cycle may be restarted whenever a tractor-trailer driver takes at least thirty-four consecutive hours off duty. While these rules seem relatively straight forward, with increased pressure on the trucking company driver to deliver his loads on time and to drive long distances over long hours, enforcement and compliance are the keys to preventing serious injury and wrongful death claims involving driver fatigue.
Our attorneys have seen far too many preventable accidents where the drivers either fell asleep at the wheel or were on stimulants trying to keep themselves awake after driving long distances over excessive hours. Driving too long over a considerable distance is a recipe for disaster when a large tractor-trailer rig is involved. While the states and federal government attempt to enforce compliance with the safety regulations through inspections, litigation brought by innocent victims against trucking companies, that disregard their safety obligations seems to be one of the most powerful weapons available to actually encourage compliance. If these companies are forced to pay for their safety violations and compensate victims not only for damages caused, but also punitive damages because of their disregard of proper safety procedure, obviously, it is hoped that future injuries and death claims due to driver fatigue may be decreased.
