Articles Posted in Trucking Accident

The dashboards of our vehicles are beginning to mirror a scene out of Star Trek. They’re getting more and more advanced and new technologies are making it easier for drivers to access text messages, phone calls, GPS devices and the internet all while driving. What they’re also doing is increasing our risks for car accidents in Boston and elsewhere, according to the federal government. The Boston Globe reports federal officials are now asking auto makers to put an end to it. They want companies to stop manufacturing vehicles that allow drivers to access these features while the vehicle is moving.

Car makers have been flooding new-model vehicles with a plethora of gadgets to try to make them appealing to today’s on-the-go buyer. These are the people who try to multitask to get everything done while they’re getting to the next place they have to be. As social media advances, the desire to stay connected with friends, family members and coworkers is growing rapidly. Our Boston car accident attorneys know it’s actually a pretty common sight throughout the state: drivers engaging in activities at the wheel other than driving. To help stop this dangerous behavior, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is stepping in.

Recently, the NHTSA recommended some voluntary guidelines for car makers. In these guidelines the NHTSA suggested they make vehicle dashboards that shut off all interactive features while the vehicle is moving or in the drive setting, meaning drivers can only engage in these distractions when the vehicle is stopped and the car is in park.

“The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want without disrupting a driver’s attention,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.

According to the vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Gloria Bergquist, automakers are going to look over the new recommended guidelines that come with a two-month comment period.

Since 2002, the industry has operated under its own set of guidelines regarding this matter.

Bergquist says that drivers are still going to use phones, play loud music and look at driving directions behind the wheel automakers are just trying to make these activities safer.

Not all new-car technologies are covered under the new recommendation though. Electronic-warning systems, GPS devices and other navigation devices still have the okay to run while the car is on and moving. The NHTSA is just asking that these technologies have a design that prohibits drivers from messing with them while the car is moving and is in drive.

If you think about it, the only other option is to go back to reading a road map in these cases, which is even more dangerous, according to Strickland.
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A recent New England trucking accident took involved parties to the Oxford County Superior Court after faulty brakes were blamed as the cause of the accident. A Maine State Police Trooper recently testified in court saying that the truck’s brakes made the 2009 accident in West Paris much worse than it had to be, according to the Sun Journal.

In the wreck, a 60-year-old man was killed on Route 26 during that three-vehicle accident. The man’s family is suing a Sommerville woman who fell asleep at the wheel causing a large commercial vehicle to swerve and drive directly into the man’s car. The woman reportedly woke up just before crashing head on with a trailer-truck. When she served back into her lane, she hit the truck and broke a spring that was used to steer that truck. The woman was injured. The tractor-trailer swerved out of the way and into the Sommerville man’s vehicle after it failed to brake.

Our Massachusetts tractor-trailer accident attorneys understand that jurors recently heard expert analysis of the accident from Steven Thomas, an engineer who is oftentimes used in these types of trials to provide expert testimony. The man said that after looking at the fatal accident he concluded that it could have only resulted as a fender-bender if the truck’s 12 brakes had been in good working condition. He added that if the tractor-trailer could have stopped just 5 feet shorter that the impact to the Sommerville man’s vehicle could have been minimal.

The expert was also asked to look at the analysis of the accident that was provided by Midwest Price Co., the trucking company. The company argued that the truck was not traveling fast at all and the accident was a result of the road’s soft shoulder.

Thomas said the shoulder of the road would have caused the truck to flip to the left and not to the right like it did.

A Main State Trooper, Daniel Hanson, said that the truck didn’t have enough power in its brakes and that’s what contributed to the severity of the accident.

“Lack of proper braking aided in the trailer overturning,” said Hanson.

The trial will continue at a later date.

This accident is a perfect example as to why properly maintaining large commercial vehicles is so important. Traffic-related accidents with these big rigs can oftentimes turn deadly.

If you have been involved in an accident with one of these large vehicles and you believe that faulty equipment is to blame, it is vital for you to contact an experienced attorney. Companies are required to keep timely maintenance records for every vehicle and an attorney can help to retrieve this information.

Failing to keep trucks up to par on safety requirements and other safety standards can result in a serious accident and a costly litigation.
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A recent Somerville trucking accident on Interstate 93 near Exit 29 took the life of a 27-year-old man from Lynn. According to state police, the accident happened as a flatbed truck was traveling southbound when one of the heavy-duty tires snapped the lone strap that was holding it to the bed of the truck.

Once the tire was launched into the highway, it bounced across the median into northbound traffic and smashed into the vehicle driven by the 27-year-old man, according to The Boston Globe. The incident caused the man’s car to roll on its side. The driver was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was later pronounced dead from injuries sustained during impact.

Our Massachusetts injury attorneys understand that truck cargo can kill when improperly secured. The tires that were being transported on the flatbed weighed approximately 400 pounds each. This is yet another example of the importance of ensuring a truck’s load is secured properly.

Highway officials shut down the interstate for about an hour and a half to conduct an investigation. Criminal charges are pending.

Unstable loads can happen to you, too. Inexperienced individuals can often over-pack and neglect to secure cargo when moving furniture, appliances and other household items. But most often, you’ll witness an unstable load on the bed of a commercial truck. These conditions can produce serious, costly and potentially fatal results.

Commercial truck drivers are required by law to make sure that the goods they’re transporting are properly restrained. There are a number of federal regulations in place to monitor the cargo of these truckers, including the requirement that limits the truck’s cargo weight. This is why you’re likely to see weigh stations along interstate roads, a clear effort to help enforce these limits.

These drivers are also required to ensure that their loads are secure. A truck’s contents must be restrained so that cargo does not slide around or fall off the truck. The proper restraint of these items helps to prevent rollover accidents and can prevent accidents. Neglecting to ensure that materials are secure can result in liability for damages to the trucker or trucking company.

According to the most recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were nearly 3,400 deaths that were the result of traffic accidents that involved a large truck in the U.S. in 2009. Nearly 75,000 people were injured in these accidents. It was estimated that there were nearly 300,000 large trucks, with the gross weight of 10,000 pounds or more, on our roadways that year.

It is important to remember that if you experience an accident because of an unstable truckload, there are a number of parties that may share liability. All involved parties are responsible for following federal regulations to help reduce the risks of these types of accidents. If they fail to do so, they can be held liable for providing you with the proper compensation.
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