Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

As many of our blogs have discussed recently, texting while driving is becoming an increasing source of negligence-based accidents on America’s roadways. Recognizing that such activity has become a problem nationwide, the United States Department of Transportation issued a press release today stating that texting while driving is banned nationwide for drivers of commercial vehicles, which includes vehicles such as tractor-trailers, trolleys, and buses. While many states already had some form of this ban, this ban covers commercial vehicles nationwide, and is part of a concentrated effort by the U.S.D.O.T. to combat distracted driving according to the press release.

The press release notes that drivers who text while driving take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, meaning that at a speed of 55 miles per hour they travel more than the length of a football field without looking at the road. The press release also notes that more regulations are likely forthcoming in this area.

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For the State of Tennessee, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that there were 3,914 accidents involving commercial trucks, which resulted in serious bodily injury or death to people in passenger vehicles. Drivers are well-advised to exercise caution when in the vicinity of commercial trucks to help prevent accidents that cause personal injury in Tennessee.

Reasons for exercising extra caution around tractor-trailers and semi-trucks are as follows:

• Truckers Have Large Blind spots. Truckers have gaping blind spots around the front, back, and sides of the truck. When cars are in these blind spots, the trucker can’t see them.
• Truckers Make Wide turns. Truckers often have to swing wide to the left to make a right turn. If a car attempts to go between the truck and the curb, the driver may get squeezed by the tractor-trailer.
• Truckers Require Longer Stopping Distances. If there is a sudden stop on the highway, tractor-trailers may not have enough stopping distance to prevent a rear-end collision due to their heavier weight.

In addition to the physical/mechanical limitations that lead to truck accidents in Tennessee, there are also a number of major operational causes that include:

• Driver fatigue, long hours and unrealistic schedules. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blames driver fatigue as a probable factor in 20 to 40% of truck crashes.
• Intoxicated driving. The NTSB recently reported that one or more drugs was detected in 67% of fatally injured truck drivers.
• Driver error. When operators fail to adhere to speed limits set for trucks, the likelihood of a jackknife or rollover significantly increases.
• Substandard inspection. According to the FMCSA, there were over 2 million roadside inspection violations last year alone.

If you have been injured or a family member has been killed as a result of a collision with a tractor-trailer, don’t hesitate to contact the top Tennessee wrongful death attorneys at Baker Associates for a free consultation.

Have you ever wondered why all 18-wheelers tend to look the same? A federal law, 49 CFR § 393, is the answer to that question. Titled “Parts and accessories necessary for safe operation,” it is an expansive federal regulatory scheme aimed at creating standard requirements for large over-the-road vehicles. Administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, its ultimate goal is to provide uniform production standards to manufacturers so that they may create what the government considers to be safe trucks.

This law covers almost everything imaginable regarding trucks, beginning with lighting systems and ending with steering wheel systems. In between is a vast array of federal rules regulating things like fuel systems, windshield wipers, horns, and tires. Many of the rules are quite specific, such as the rules requiring exact spacing of lights on trucks and trailers. Other rules, such as those requiring that no bolts be missing from any parts of the vehicle, are much more common sense. There are even federal regulations regarding the size of the sleeping berths in the cabs of trucks.

49 CFR § 393 was passed in response to the large number of Tennessee truck accidents and fatalities that were occurring as a result of insufficient safety features on tractor-trailer trucks. Congress, recognizing the high number of truck crashes in Tennessee, and across the nation, involving 18-wheelers in proportion to their prevalence on the road, enacted this scheme in an effort to promote highway safety. The result of the scheme is a highly regulated standard that seeks to ensure that trucks that are produced and operated are being done so in the safest manner possible. Another likely result, however, is that noncompliance with a prescribed standard could create a prima facie case of negligence on the part of owners, operators, and manufacturers.