There is no more dangerous vehicle to other motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians than a forty-ton tractor-trailer. These behemoths frequently cause catastrophic injuries like paralysis from spinal cord injuries, amputation or decapitation, loss of mental functioning from traumatic brain injuries and even wrongful death. Data from trucking accidents reveals that the vehicle occupants that suffer catastrophic injuries or fatalities are virtually always the driver or passengers in the other vehicle. Trucking accident litigation requires both a thorough understanding of trucking industry regulations and key evidentiary issues particular to trucking litigation. We receive many questions about these complex motor vehicle cases and have provided Part II of our FAQ on San Francisco trucking accidents below.
What role does drugs or alcohol play in trucking accidents?
The rules governing alcohol and drug use by truck drivers are strict, and truck drivers are subject to random drug testing. Truck drivers violate federal regulations when they operate a commercial truck with a BAC of .02 percent or greater. If a driver will be operating a big-rig, the commercial driver is also prohibited from engaging in any “safety sensitive function” within 24 hours of consuming alcohol. Any truck driver whose BAC test at .04 percent or higher must submit to another test before being permitted to return to duty. Operators of tractor-trailers also must submit to random testing for narcotics like methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana and other drugs. A year long study of trucking accidents conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board found that 67 percent of truck drivers that died in trucking accidents had a drug in their blood while 33 percent of those drivers had a detectable level of alcohol or psychoactive drugs in their blood.
What are Hours of Service Rules?
Truck driver fatigue is considered a factor in as many as 20-40 percent of all trucking accidents. Because tired drivers can result in critical driving errors or falling asleep at the wheel, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has promulgated rules that limit the amount of time that truck drivers can be on the road without a minimum rest period. Violations of these HOS rules are often at the heart of many trucking accident cases in the Bay Area. Although drivers are required to maintain logbooks that provide a record of their compliance with HOS rules these records are frequently distorted. Our experienced San Francisco trucking accident attorneys often use other documents like lodging or fuel receipts or electronic data saved on the tractor-trailer’s black box recorder to expose misrepresentations in driver logbooks.
How should I respond to the trucking company’s insurance carrier after the accident?
The answer is that you should not respond at all until you have obtained legal advice from an experienced San Francisco trucking accident lawyer. Commercial carriers have a team of lawyers and experts who are trained to assist their clients in avoiding or minimizing liability. Any information that you share with the insurance company is likely to be used by the insurance company against you at some later point in the case.
What types of collisions are unique to tractor-trailers?
The unique physical characteristics of tractor-trailers mean that they may be involved in accidents that are very different from other vehicles. Some of the types of crashes involving semi-trucks that are unique to these vehicles include:
- Jackknife Collisions: These accidents occur when the trailer of the vehicle begins to move at a faster rate of speed than the cab resulting in the vehicle folding like a pocketknife. The force of the trailer swinging around may cause the cab to fold back and face in the opposite direction of the trailer. Jackknife trucking accidents are particularly dangerous because when the cab folds back toward the trailer the driver loses all control of the semi-truck. The vehicle may lose its load or rollover, which are both very dangerous for those in nearby vehicles.
- Under-Carriage/Override Accidents: These collisions can have tragic and gruesome results when a passenger vehicle travels under a 18-wheeler or the truck travels over the top of a passenger vehicle. These accidents often happen because the guards designed to prevent a vehicle from becoming entrapped under the tractor-trailer are inadequate. These accidents frequently result in fatal collisions where the roof of the passenger vehicle is ripped away or crushed. These violent collisions can result in decapitating of passenger vehicle occupants.
- Load Related Accidents: Many trucking accidents are caused by overloading commercial trucks or improperly securing loads. When a truck is overloaded, the truck is even less responsive so the driver may not be able to stop or safely maneuver a tractor-trailer in time to avoid a collision. In cases where a load is not properly secured, the load may shift causing the vehicle to be off balance. If a tractor-trailer is unbalanced, the driver may lose control of the big-rig, or the vehicle may roll over.
Contact Us For Your Free Consultation
We invite you to read the third installment of our blog on frequently asked questions about San Francisco trucking accidents. While we have tried to address the most common questions, the best way to obtain detailed information is to call and speak to one of our experienced San Francisco truck accident lawyers. If you or someone you love has been injured or a loved one has died in a San Francisco trucking accident, you should contact us as soon as possible because critical deadlines apply. We invite you to contact The Law Office of Ian Zimmerman for your free initial consultation. We are open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., speak Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, and are available for weekend, evening, home and hospital meetings and visits. We also offer free initial consultations and work exclusively on a contingency fee basis so that you pay nothing if we don’t win your case.