Laredo Commercial Trucker Driver Fatigue

Laredo is a city thriving with activity. With the large amount of border activity, cars and large commercial vehicles share the roads and highways on a daily basis. More traffic on the road means more opportunities for accidents to occur between passenger vehicles and 18-wheel trucks. When this happens, you want a Laredo commercial truck accident lawyer on your side.

Truckers, like all motorists in Laredo, have an obligation to operate their vehicles in a safe manner. Their presence on the road, however, is often marked by delivery deadlines, poorly maintained vehicles, and drivers who are working under the stress of long, tiring hours on the road. This often leads to Laredo commercial truck driver fatigue.

While many truck drivers engage in safe driving behaviors, the size and weight of their vehicles means that any unsafe behavior can quickly have tragic consequences for other motorists sharing the road with them.

Most truck drivers receive compensation based on the miles they drive. Unfortunately, this gives truckers an incentive to drive long distances over many hours, which results in one of the many causes of commercial truck accidents: driver fatigue.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, each year approximately 100,000 accidents where police respond are connected to some form of driver fatigue. They estimate these accidents result in more than 1500 fatalities, 71,000 serious injuries, and $12.5 billion worth of property damage and expenses.

In order to ensure that commercial truck drivers are adhering to federal and state regulations, employers require their drivers to maintain a log in which they document hours and miles on the road, driving start and stop times, and hours of sleep attained. Regardless of the federal and state restrictions, commercial truck drivers often find themselves on strict transportation deadlines.

The Journal of Public Health Policy interviewed more than 1200 commercial truckers. Nearly a third of those drivers admitted to driving beyond the federally mandated number of weekly hours. Almost 20 percent admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least one time in the previous week, and an alarming two-thirds of the drivers admitted to underreporting the number of hours they drove in their logs.

When large commercial trucks are in accidents with passenger vehicles, the car’s occupants are at a much greater risk of injury, mainly due to the disparity in size. Consider that 18-wheelers can weigh up to 30 times more than smaller autos. In 2015, just under 70 percent of the fatalities in crashes between 18-wheelers and auto were occupants in the passenger vehicles.

Laredo commercial truck driver fatigue is a serious problem and puts everyone else on the highways at risk. Accidents between passenger automobiles and commercial trucks are a serious matter that can pose significant risk of life-altering injuries or even loss of life. You want an attorney to help you navigate the aftermath of an accident with a commercial truck.

After an accident with an 18-wheeler in Laredo, the insurance firm representing the trucking company will call upon its large staff of attorneys to help them strategize a way to minimize what they may owe. This could result in your rights as an injured party receiving the full compensation to which you’re entitled. That’s when you need to contact an attorney with the knowledge and experience to represent you.

To discover what compensation can be recovered from accidents caused by Laredo commercial truck driver fatigue, call the attorneys of Carabin Shaw. We’re here to fight for you and make sure you receive the money you deserve. We will provide you peace of mind and the results you expect.

If you’ve been involved in a Laredo 18 wheeler accident, call Carabin Shaw. Your initial consultation with us is free of charge and we won’t collect anything from you unless we win your case.

To set up an appointment in Laredo with one of our lawyers, contact us today by phone at 956.333.3333.