Why Do Overloaded Trucks Cause Accidents?

Any commercial truck on the road poses increased danger to other motorists, but an overloaded truck presents a variety of additional hazards. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) imposes weight limits on trucking companies in order to prevent as many weight-related truck accidents as possible.According to the FMCSA, the weight limit for a commercial motor vehicle is a gross weight (truck and cargo) of no more than 80,000 pounds. Some trucking companies have been caught ignoring the rule in attempt to boost productivity. In 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety cited 61,184 drivers for operating overweight trucks. Overloaded trucks are responsible for hundreds of accidents on Texas roads every year. In 2011, 1,137 accidents on Texas highways were caused by overloaded trucks, in which four drivers died and another 30 were injured.

What Risks Do Overloaded Trucks Pose?

A commercial truck can easily weigh 20 or 30 times more than an average vehicle. That means that they cause significantly more damage upon impact. Other dangers associated with overloading include:

• Difficulty stopping – The increased weight means more mass. More mass means more momentum. More momentum means it could take much longer for an overweight truck to stop; too long to prevent a fatal car accident.

• Risk of breaking axles – The axles on a truck are rated to carry a certain weight. If the axles are overloaded, they could break. If the axle on a 100,000-pound, rolling object breaks while it’s traveling 60 mph, that’s going to do some damage to any vehicles nearby.

• Instability and tip overs – Overweight trailers could also cause the truck and its cargo to fall over, potentially crushing cars passing by.

• Increased risk of dropping cargo – Falling debris is also a serious concern with overloaded trucks. When trucks are overloaded, it’s difficult to ensure that cargo is strapped in tightly.

What Can I Do If I’m Injured in an Overloaded Truck Accident?

If a trucking company asks its drivers to take on more weight than regulations allow, they may cause a serious accident. Truck drivers and companies have a responsibility to follow the rules and keep other people on the road safe. The vehicles they are driving are deadly, and should be handled with caution. Depending on the circumstances of an accident, truckers and commercial carriers can be held liable when other drivers are injured or killed. Profits should never take precedence over the lives of other people.If you were injured because a trucking company valued productivity and profit over your safety, you should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.

Can This Device Prove Who Caused a Truck Accident?

Commercial aircraft are required to have cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders. You may know of these devices as ‘the black box’, a term frequently used by the mainstream media after a major airplane crash. Black boxes record operational data on planes (such as the movement of rudders, ailerons or actions of the autopilot) and sounds from the cockpit. Without the black box, we wouldn’t be able to determine the causes of plane crashes. Commercial trucks also have a ‘black box’ called the electronic control module (ECM). ECMs are onboard computers that control and monitor engines, transmissions and braking systems.Depending on the type of truck involved, ECMs can record varying information. For example, some ECMs can record truck speed, time driven, clutch use, cruise control status and sudden stops. If a trucker were to cause an accident, his or her ECM might show the truck was speeding at the time of the crash. Data collected from the ECM might also show whether a truck driver’s hours-of-service logs have been falsified. Remember, many ECMs record driving time!Black box technology on trucks continues to improve. Electronic logging devices (ELDs) are very similar to ECMs, but will be capable of recording driver behavior with greater accuracy. ELDs record engine hours, vehicle movement and location information. It would simplify the process of proving who is at fault in an accident. New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules may make ELDs mandatory for all commercial trucks by December of 2017.One of the greatest benefits of ELDs is that drivers would be unable to falsify driving logs that record the numbers of hours driven. At the moment, many commercial carriers still use written driving logs that truckers can falsify. Truckers can falsify these logs to skirt hours of service regulations that cap how many hours they can operate. As we have discussed in previous blogs, drowsy truckers are much more likely to cause accidents.Roadside safety inspectors could view information on ELDs to determine whether drivers are over their hours of service limits. In addition, attorneys or law enforcement could pull ELD data to determine who is at fault in an accident.Both ELDs and ECMs are important for proving negligence after a trucking accident. These devices can show whether truckers were violating hours of service rules or speeding. For these reasons, the data collected by ELDs and ECMs are often used as evidence in truck accident cases.

Commercial Carriers May Tamper with the Electronic Control Module

Commercial carriers may try to destroy ECM data to shed themselves of liability. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a truck accident, it is extremely important to contact an attorney right away. Your attorney could take steps to file a protective order that would prevent the destruction of ECM or ELD data. A court order could also prevent access or tampering with the truck involved in your accident.Remember, the data collected by ECMs and ELDs may be crucial for ensuring that you receive the care and resources needed to recover from your injuries or loss. Mike Love & Associates, LLC not only has experience handling truck accident cases, Mike Love is the former owner of a trucking company!The Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC can help people who have been harmed by negligent commercial carriers and truckers.

Can New Auto Technology Prevent Truck Accidents?

New automotive technology looks promising to prevent car accidents. Collision avoidance and lane departure systems are becoming standard features on many vehicles sold in the United States. These technologies promise to prevent the ‘human error’ factor involved in most car accidents.Can these same technologies prevent accidents involving large semi-trucks? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tested some of these technologies on commercial trucks with great results!If we look at causes of truck accidents involving human error, the benefits of these technologies become apparent. Lane departure warning systems can alert sleepy commercial truckers if they begin to depart from the road. Collision avoidance systems can automatically brake for tired commercial truck drivers. Another new technology can automatically steer during emergency situations.Collision avoidance systems are among the most exciting of the new technologies being considered for use on commercial trucks. This technology uses radar systems to detect moving, stopped and stationary objects. Collision avoidance systems also use audible and visual warnings to alert drivers.Do collision avoidance systems work? After all, we wrote about a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S several weeks ago. The vehicle had Autopilot (which incorporates collision avoidance technology) active at the time of the crash. However, the collision avoidance systems used by Tesla’s vehicles are different than what commercial trucks may use.Testing conducted by NHTSA shows collision avoidance systems on trucks may be highly effective at preventing accidents.

NHTSA Tests Collision Avoidance Technology on Commercial Trucks

NHTSA equipped 150 Class 8 tractor-trailers with collision avoidance systems. To test the effectiveness of these systems, NHTSA recorded results for one year. More than 165 drivers were involved in the study.The data involved 6,000 collision avoidance system activations, 3 million miles and 110,000 hours of driving! According to the results published by NHTSA in its report, Field Study of Heavy-Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems: Final Report, none of the 6,000 activations resulted in collisions.So there you have it, these technologies can at the very least help to prevent truck accidents. If we consider that drowsy driving and driver inattention are a major cause of truck accidents, the benefits of collision avoidance technology are obvious. Some companies have plans to utilize collision avoidance and lane departure systems. Volvo claims it will use both on its VN series trucks.NHTSA statistics show that 3,903 people died and another 111,000 were injured in truck accidents during 2014. New technologies on trucks may greatly reduce these numbers and make driving much safer for everyone.The Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC, will hold negligent commercial carriers accountable when they cause accidents.

18-Wheeler Crash on Highway 59 North Takes Lives of Two People

Mechanical failure and, potentially, driver error on the part of the truck driver resulted in a fatality crash involving an 18-wheeler and two other vehicles August 10^th just outside of Lufkin.  Thaddeus Warden, of Lufkin, was tragically killed in the crash.  Mr. Warden was driving a 2013 Dodge southbound on highway 59 when the 18-wheeler lost control crossed the median and crashed into Mr. Warden’s truck and a 2016 Jeep driven by Bria Jones of Houston.  According to reports, Ms. Jones was injured as well and transported to a Lufkin hospital.  A passenger in the 18-wheeler, Brenda Ramon, of Laredo was also killed in the crash.According to DPS reports, the 18-wheeler suffered a blowout immediately prior to the driver losing control of his truck.  At this time, it’s not known whether the blowout theory is based on information from the driver, or evidence obtained from the scene.  However, these type crashes are all too common on our nation’s roadways.  Many assume that a tire “blow out” is some kind of freak accident that just ‘happens’ and can’t be prevented.  Nothing could be further from truth.  Crashes caused by tire “blow outs”,  just like crashes caused by wheels suddenly “coming off” 18-wheeler trailers, are almost always preventable and usually the result of negligent maintenance, driver error, or both.Today’s tires are manufactured to exacting standards and don’t “blow out” unless something is bad wrong.  Remember the Ford Explorers and Firestone Tires that kept exploding and causing crashes?  Remember all the lawsuits?  That’s because tires are not supposed to blow out.  There were lawsuits because the Firestone tires were defective and dangerous.  Now, think of all the pieces of 18wheeler tires you see on the side of the road.  Have you ever heard of a big wave of 18wheeler tire lawsuits?  You can bet that if the tires were defective, there would be lawsuits all over the place.The truth is, 18-wheeler tires are manufactured to significantly higher standards that passenger cars.  The average passenger car tire weighs about 20 pounds while the average big truck tire weighs in between 100 and 110 pounds.  However, as you can imagine, truck tires are also under tremendous pressure and stress.  Big trucks are allowed to carry 20,000 pounds of weight on each axle.  The most common cause of “blowouts” are driving on worn and damaged tires, or driving on under inflated tires.  Big truck tires are designed to run on 95-115 pounds of air pressure (as opposed to the 32 pounds required for a passenger car).  When a trucking company decides to cut corners and squeeze ‘a few thousand more miles’ out of worn and damages tires it puts everyone else on the road at risk.  Likewise, low air pressure and worn and damaged tires are easily detected by even the most inexperienced driver, if he or she takes the time to look.  When truck drivers get in a hurry, and skip the pre-trip inspection that the law requires them to perform before every trip, the results can be absolutely tragic. Mike LoveMikeLove@TexasLawOffice.com * Mr. Love practices law in Lufkin Texas and is the senior partner with the law firm of Mike Love & Associates, LLC.  Much of Mr. Love’s practice involves representing the victims of 18-wheeler crashes.  Mr. Love regularly speaks at legal seminars providing continuing education to other attorneys relating to car and big truck crash litigation through Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Texas State Bar.

How the Government Prevents Truck Accidents Caused by Poor Tire Maintenance

If you read our blog last week, you learned about how Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) load regulations prevent truck accidents. There are many other FMCSA regulations that keep us safe. For example, FMCSA regulations require commercial carriers to use safe equipment. Today we are going to focus on the importance of maintenance and using safe tires. We are also going to briefly describe types of truck accidents caused by poor tire maintenance. Keep in mind, that while we are discussing commercial trucks, the following regulations also apply to other commercial vehicles.Equipment on commercial trucks experience wear and tear, especially tires. FMCSA regulation § 393.75 requires that commercial trucks must never operate on tires that meet the following criteria.

• Trucks cannot operate on tires that have ply or belt material exposed (either through the sidewall or tread). This includes cuts large enough to expose ply or belt material.
• Tires with tread or sidewall separation are not safe for use. To put this into layman’s terms, tires experiencing tread or sidewall separation are starting to fall apart.
• Trucks cannot operate on flat tires. In addition, trucks cannot use tires with audible leaks.
• Tread depth on tires must meet certain standards. Steering tires (located in the front) must have a minimum tread depth of 4/32 of an inch. Other wheels located on trucks must have a minimum tread depth of 2/32 of an inch.
• Trucks must use tires that can operate within the weight limit listed on the sidewall. There are rare exceptions to this rule.
• Trucks cannot operate with cold tire inflation pressures less than what is specified on the sidewall for specific loads.

Truck tires can break down due to poor maintenance practices. For example, regular inspections should catch tires with poor tread depth or deep cuts that expose the sidewall or tread. If commercial carriers allow unsafe tires to be used, other motorists pay the price.

What You Should Know About Truck Accidents and Poor Tire Maintenance

There are several types of accidents that can occur when truckers and commercial carriers neglect maintenance and operate on unsafe tires.Blowout accidents: Blowout accidents occur when tires rapidly and explosively lose pressure. When blowouts occur, truckers can lose control of their vehicles. Trucks can also roll over after experiencing tire blowouts. When tires are incorrectly installed (such as installing tires that cannot handle specific weight loads) or have poor tread depth, blowout accidents can occur. For the most part, blowout accidents are preventable with routine maintenance.Weather-related accidents: The same rules for tires that apply to passenger vehicles also apply to commercial trucks. Trucks with shallow tread depth cannot safely operate in severe weather or on slick roads. Tread depth helps truck tires grip icy or wet roads so truckers do not lose control.Rear-end accidents: Trucks operating on poor tires may require more room to brake and avoid collisions. This is especially true during adverse weather conditions.Although the FMCSA has stipulated tire use and maintenance rules, many commercial carriers fail to keep tires on their trucks maintained. Some commercial carriers do not want to replace tires or hire people to perform maintenance.We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are many other pieces of equipment on trucks that require routine maintenance. Much like tires, commercial carriers may neglect to maintain these pieces of equipment. Expect future blog updates discussing how our attorneys can determine when truck accidents have been caused by poor maintenance practices.The Texas truck accident attorneys at Mike Love & Associates, LLC will hold negligent commercial carriers accountable for crashes.