Many truck accidents today are caused by driver fatigue, as well as, inattentiveness. There are federal regulations which determine the amount of hours that a trucker may be on the road. These trucking regulations prohibit a trucking company from allowing its drivers to go on the road in circumstances where the driver’s fatigue could be a factor, whether their alertness could be a factor or their health could be a factor or if it is generally known that they just might not be emotionally stable to go out on the road.
A trucking company has a duty, that is an affirmative duty, to monitor the trucker’s logs and to confirm that the information in those logs is true and accurate. A truck company has a duty to establish certain procedures to make sure that the hours of service regulations are met by the trucker. The purpose of these regulations, of course, is to make sure that accidents are prevented and if there’s evidence that these regulations were not complied with, then the company will bear responsibility for any damages resulting from a truck accident.
There have been many cases where it’s been shown that truck drivers have been very creative in attempting to violate the hours of service operation regulations. It is important to have a good, qualified, trucking lawyer look at your case and determine whether the regulations, that is the hours of service, have been violated by the truck driver. Many times, we can look at the logs and determine whether the logs themselves are false or whether they are accurate. Other times, we might even look at the driver’s cellphone records or the text messaging or the online, inboard, electronic messaging system they have in their trucks.
If you have questions about whether driver fatigue or driver inattentiveness caused the truck accident you were involved in, feel free to contact my office and I’ll do the best to examine your case and give you an honest opinion of the case. I’m Roger Ghai and you can call me at 770-792-1000.