Georgia Truck Drivers in the Rain

This is Roger Ghai and I wanted to talk today a little bit about the duties of an 18-wheeler truck driver when they’re driving in the rain. Now, the rule is is that they are supposed to reduce their speed by 1/3 of whatever the speed limit is whenever they’re driving in the rain. To give you an example, if they’re driving 55 miles per hour, they have to reduce their speed to approximately 33 or 34 miles per hour. These guidelines can be found in the commercial driver’s license manual.
The manual points out that it will be harder to stop and it will be harder to turn without skidding when it is raining outside. Also, the manual points out that on wet roads, it may take as long as two times the distance to stop than on a dry road. Again, the driver is expected and advised to reduce his or her speed by 1/3 of whatever the speed limit is whenever it’s raining. Now, if we’re dealing with snowy conditions like in Minnesota where I’m from and it ices a lot then the driver has to reduce his or her speed by 1/2.
If the speed limit is 60 miles an hour, they have to slow down to 30 miles per hour. If there are, in fact, actual icy conditions on the highways at the time the trucker’s on the road then they actually have to slow down to a crawl and pull to the side of the road as soon as it safely can be done. If you have questions about whether the trucker involved in your accident was abiding by the guidelines for driving in rainy or slippery or snowy or icy conditions, call my office at 770-792-1000 and we’ll evaluate the case together.