Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

Researchers in Europe say that commercial drivers, such as those who drive buses and trucks, may deny or underreport serious sleep trouble in order to protect their jobs. At a recent meeting of the European Lung Foundation, researchers presented the results of a study focused on daytime sleepiness levels in commercial drivers versus the general public. According to a MedlinePlus review, the study focused on people with a condition known as sleep apnea, often targeted as a serious risk factor for auto accidents.

Sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes sufferers to have trouble breathing when asleep. People with the illness can be left with depression, headaches and high levels of sleepiness. As the MedlinePlus article points out, bus and truck drivers who have sleep apnea can have their licenses or jobs revoked if their employers think the medical condition will affect their ability to stay alert behind the wheel. Fear of losing their jobs may cause professional drivers who suffer from the illness to underestimate or hold back about how sleepy they really are — which may lead to serious, even fatal, auto accidents.

The researchers in Switzerland looked at two groups of sleep apnea sufferers — a group of 34 commercial drivers and a group of 74 people who don’t drive for a living. The study looked at actual levels of sleep disturbance versus the level of sleepiness that each person reported feeling. At the beginning, each group had the same level of problems sleeping. The commercial drivers, however, only reported an average sleepiness level of around 8, compared to the other group, which reported an average sleepiness of 11. (Higher scores mean higher feelings of sleepiness.)

In a recent opinion item in the Charleston Post and Courier, North Charleston city councilman Ron Brinson urged South Carolina authorities to support much-needed upgrades to Interstate 26, the main route connecting the Charleston area to the rest of the state and nation.

Brinson rightly points out that I-26 is already over capacity and in generally poor condition, and that situation will only get worse as the Port of Charleston grows and more trucks take to the highway. “Congestion and outdated designs engender unsafe conditions. Accident rates are generally high, and there’s a well-documented disproportionate fatality rate, especially in the Orangeburg to Summerville segment,” he writes.
Motorists who frequently travel I-26 between Charleston and Columbia are aware of the road’s inadequacies, and Brinson suggests that conditions will deteriorate as traffic increases — unless the state gets serious about upgrading its infrastructure. With the potential for a doubling of truck traffic related to the port within 10-12 years, sufficient modernization of I-26 would cost at least $1 billion and take about a decade, according to Brinson.

South Carolina may soon create a truck-only lane along the far left side on a seven-mile stretch on I-26 in Charleston, South Carolina. Legislators cite the growing port in Charleston as the cause of increased tractor-trailer presence and accidents between Cosgrove Avenue to Ashley Phosphate Road on I-26.

“If we can save a life, it is our responsibility to act. The only way to be proactive is to go ahead and try something that would be feasible for that area,” Rep. Wendell Gilliard (D-Charleston), the sponsor of the bill, said. “It’s a safety issue. You don’t want trucks in the middle lane or the far right. In that scenario, you end up having lanes blocked near exits. With trucks to the far left, cars can proceed around them..

The value of truck-only lanes has long been debated by urban planners and traffic safety officials. In theory, truck-only lanes ensure that trucks do not intermingle with passenger vehicles and, thus, present less likelihood of collision. These lanes, however, effectively reduce road and highway size and thereby represent an added cost to the state. Some states have proposed special truck-only tolls, but such moves are strongly resisted by the trucking industry especially in a time when truck-related fatalities are decreasing. The cause of the decrease in accidents–whether because of the recession or increased safety– is still being debated.

After only twenty minutes into a car accident trial last week, a recess was called and the two parties came to agreement on a $10 million settlement to be paid by the Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO). The transit authority had admitted before trial that its truck driver was liable for the collision.

The 55-year-old Berlin, NJ man was driving to work in July 2007 when he was struck by a PATCO truck in Philadelphia, PA. The man had just crossed a bridge into Philadelphia when the PATCO driver ran a red light and shoved the man’s vehicle into a median strip. The accident resulted in shattered bones and a broken ankle to the driver.

The man has since undergone 12 surgeries and a painful debriding procedure to try to rid the leg of a serious infection which had begun to cause his flesh to rot. Unable to do anything else to save his leg, the doctors were forced to amputate.

A Richmond man who was severely injured in 2007 while driving a tractor-trailer has received a $23 million award from a Richmond Circuit Court, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Two years after a 32-year-old woman was killed when a tractor trailer rear-ended the pick-up truck in which she was riding, her family has been awarded a $6.5 million award in their wrongful death lawsuit, reports the Courier-News.

Our neighbors in Georgia bore the brunt of a South Carolina company’s mistake on Jan. 24, when bad brake maintenance caused an avoidable accident in Effingham County. According to an article in the Savannah Morning News, a tractor-trailer that belonged to Smith Logging of Grays tried to stop for a stop sign and discovered that his brakes were not working. Rather than yielding the right of way as intended, the truck, which was fully loaded with logs, slid into the intersection and hit a van belonging to Effingham County, Ga. Fortunately, nobody involved was seriously hurt; two of the van’s passengers sustained minor injuries. A fire and rescue worker was quoted in the article expressing surprise that nobody was killed.

According to the article, the logging truck’s driver will likely be cited for failing to maintain the vehicle. That may sound minor, but it’s an important penalty, because statistics from the federal Department of Transportation show that shoddy vehicle maintenance is a critical cause in 10% of all large-truck crashes. The department’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study found that vehicle failures caused about 8,000 crashes involving large trucks — and brake failure alone was responsible for approximately 1,000 crashes. When you include failures that mislead other drivers, like missing headlights, those numbers may grow even bigger. In fact, brake-related problems, including but not limited to failures, contributed to 29% of all truck accidents, according to the study — the largest single contributing factor. In that light, trucking companies and truck owners must be held strictly responsible for maintaining their brakes and other essential truck equipment. Lives are in the balance.

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