• 13
  • February
    2012

Accidents involving large commercial trucks are a leading cause of serious injuries on highways in Illinois and throughout the country. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,000 people are killed and nearly 150,000 are injured in truck accidents each year.

What is worse, the cause of many of these accidents is simple enough to prevent: in many accidents, truck drivers are fatigued from long hours on the road, unrealistic delivery schedules and not enough time off. Fatigued truck drivers account for 750 deaths and 20,000 injuries each year, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA.

In order to address this problem, the FMCSA has enacted hours of service requirements for truck drivers. Under the current rule, commercial truck drivers may operate a vehicle for no more than 10 consecutive hours before resting for a minimum of eight hours. A new FMCSA proposal would make these rules even stricter, requiring drivers to take two to three hour breaks and to rest for at least nine to 12 hours every 24 hours. Although the new requirements have not yet been approved, some suggest that they would result in far fewer accidents due to trucker fatigue.

Whether a truck accident was caused by trucker fatigue or because he or she failed to follow the rules of the road, an injured passenger or motorist should be able to receive compensation for their pain and suffering, medical bills and loss of wages. Because truckers are professional truckers, it is extremely important that they not only get their cargo to their destinations, but also that they drive safely and avoid causing any accidents along the way.

Source: Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, "Fact Sheet: Truck Driver Fatigue"