Trucker Fatigue Crashes

Truckers who are driving tractor trailers while fatigued can cause crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. Such drivers may be violating Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulations by exceeding maximum number of driving hours rules.

FMCSA has set forth hours of driving limits for drivers of commercial vehicles. The purpose is to prevent collisions caused by driver fatigue, because the number of hours driving strongly correlate to the number of fatigue related accidents.

The risks of fatigue are the greatest between midnight and six in the morning and also increase with the length of the driver’s trip.

A case that I handled demonstrates the serious consequences of truck driver inattention, and likely fatigue. A group of adults and children were traveling home to Phoenix in their van, eastbound on Interstate 10 , near Tonopah. Their vehicle was stopped when it was hit from the rear by a Freightliner tractor trailer, going sixty miles per hour. My clients’ van was crushed, it rolled and crashed in the desert. Traumatic injuries were suffered.

The driver was negligent, further, the hours he had driven, the time of the wreck and irregularities in his logs suggested that he was a fatigued driver. Following a lawsuit, the injured victims received fair settlements for their injuries, medical bills and lost income.