On behalf of Kammholz Law PLLC posted in Truck Accidents on Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
Truck driver fatigue poses a serious threat of injury on roadways in New York and throughout the country. That is why federal standards of safety require that truck drivers record their work hours and take breaks to avoid fatigued driving. However, current regulations allow for truck drivers to use paper hours-of-service logs, which can be easily falsified. To hold truck drivers and their employers more accountable, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed a rule that would require the commercial bussing and trucking industries to implement an electronic system for logging drivers’ hours. The measure is aimed at reducing crashes caused by fatigue and helping inspectors and investigators obtain accurate data. According to the federal agency, requiring the use of Electronic Logging Devices would annually prevent about 20 deaths and more than 430 injuries. Hours-of-service violations are also expected to drop, and investigations would become more efficient as drivers’ logbooks would be electronically displayed and flagged with any possible violations. Incidentally, the new rule would not require the constant monitoring of truck drivers. The electronic logs would have to be turned over to authorities only at certain times, such as during accident investigations and roadside inspections. An in-depth investigation of a truck accident typically goes beyond determining how a crash happened. Negligence can be many-faceted in these cases. In addition to problems with a truck driver’s recordkeeping, there may be truck maintenance issues. Other cases involve payloads that are too heavy. To prepare a claim of truck driver negligence, you should speak with an attorney with experience in this area of the law. Source: Truckinginfo.com, “FMCSA Proposes Electronic Logbook Regulations,” March 13, 2014