A fatal San Jose trucking accident Wednesday on the I-680 Freeway serves as a grim reminder of the devastating consequences that may result when a San Francisco big rig driver speeds or ignores mandatory rest periods rules (called “hours of service rules) because of unrealistic time pressure. The horrific accident reported by local media occurred when the big rig rolled over on top of the roof of a Toyota Camry crushing a passenger in the vehicle. While the fatal I-680 trucking accident is still under investigation, media report indicate that law enforcement authorities believe that the big rig rollover accident resulted from the big rig driver taking a curve at too high a rate of speed.
Truck drivers trying to meet tight time schedules are a leading cause of many fatal big rig accidents in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area. Because of increased trucking industry competition, lower profit margins and increased fuel costs, truck drivers and trucking companies often try to move more products faster and in fewer trips. This urgency can lead to a multitude of big rig accident hazards including:
- Violation of speed limits or driving too fast based on road design, conditions and traffic
- Exceeding hours of service (HOS) rules so that the driver is tired or mentally and physically fatigued
- Overloading of vehicles so that fewer trips need to be made to transport the load
- Routes that may save time but are unsafe for big rigs because of curves, width, steep grades and other factors
- Use of drugs (stimulants) like methamphetamine to permit the driver to continue driving on less rest
Commercial carriers often demand that big rig drivers agree to comply with unrealistic delivery schedules. Sometimes truck driver agree to unsafe schedules out of fear that a refusal will mean the shipment is given to another driver. In other cases, big rig drivers are afraid that if they contest their ability to meet the unsafe trucking delivery schedule they may lose their job.
Driver fatigue alone is estimated to account for forty percent of all big rig collisions. When additional factors associated with unrealistic schedules, such as drug use, speeding, overloading vehicles and violating HOS rules are added, it is easy to see that most big rig collisions are at least in part a product of unrealistic shipping schedules.
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If you are involved in a San Francisco big rig accident, you may suffer catastrophic life-changing injuries. If you or someone you love has been injured or a loved one has died in a San Francisco tractor-trailer truck 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 with a San Francisco tractor-trailer accident attorney. 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.