According to the Truck Safey Coalition, there are over 5,000 fatalities a year due to truck accidents.
A frequent cause of truck accidents is driver fatigue. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued regulations that specify maximum driving times and required resting periods for truck drivers. If a victim in a truck accident can prove that any such regulations were breached, a lawsuit can often be won in favor of the victim, or his/her survivors.
There had been concern about the impact of a pilot program under NAFTA that would have allowed Mexico-based truck drivers to cross the border and drive on U.S. highways. The fear was that since such drivers are not subject to the same hours-of-service regulations as U.S. truck drivers, their presence on American roads would increase the risk to U.S. citizens of truck accidents. However, on March 29, 2007, Congress passed the Safe American Roads Act of 2007, which sets strict limits on access to U.S. roads by trucks based in Mexico.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a truck related accident, the trucking accident lawyers at D’Amore & Associates in Oregon and Washington will determine if the accident was caused by a failure to comply with applicable regulations, and if so, make sure the driver and his or her employer are held responsible for the damage caused by such failures.
