Call Us Toll-Free: 1.877.767.3108

Truck Accident Litigation Blog

Longer driving hours for truckers maintained

Monday, December 17th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on Tuesday, December 11, that it was issuing an interim final rule that maintains the current 11 hour driving limit.  The new rules also require truckers to rest for 10 hours before going back out on the road. 
But the announcement is only the latest step in a continuing […]

---

AZ trucking company pays big for the death of husband, father of eight

Monday, December 17th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

In April of 2004, Thomas Steven, of Wichita, KS was 57.  He owned his own business, which allowed him to support his wife and eight children who ranged in age from 13 to 26.  His life was cut short when the driver of a truck, owned by Phoenix, AZ-based Swift Transportation, ran a stop sign […]

---

Large Truck Crash Statistics for the State of Missouri

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) publishes an annual report called the “Summary of Large Trucks and Buses Involved in Crashes.”  This report can be found at Analysis and Information Online (www.ai.volpe.dot.gov), a website promulgated and maintained by the DOT.  The report identifies the number of large trucks and buses reported in fatal and nonfatal […]

---

Large Truck Crash Statistics for the State of Illinois

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) publishes an annual report called the “Summary of Large Trucks and Buses Involved in Crashes.”  This report can be found at Analysis and Information Online (www.ai.volpe.dot.gov), a website promulgated and maintained by the DOT.   The report identifies the number of large trucks and buses reported in fatal and […]

---

The Large Truck Crash Causation Study

Monday, October 29th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) released in 2006 is based on a three-year data collection project conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  In its inception, it was to be an unprecedented national study of large trucking accidents, focusing on obtaining information necessary […]

---

Elimination of dangerous trucking regulations put on hold

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

September was supposed to bring to an end the dangerous regulations recently passed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that allowed trucking companies to require their drivers to be on the road for more hours on more days.  But now a U.S. Court of Appeals has pushed the deadline back to December 27, […]

---

Duties of Truckers and Trucking Companies

Friday, August 10th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

We all know that being a safe driver isn’t enough to protect you on the roads.  Whenever we travel the highways of our country, our safety is dependant both on our own safe driving, and the safe driving of others.  Every driver on the road owes a duty of care to the drivers around them.  […]

---

Oregon trucker wins $2.45 million verdict after trucking company fails to send aid and prevents other truckers from helping.

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

An Oregon truck driver, Glenn Johnson, could no longer push the clutch on his truck due to a painful foot callus and therefore pulled over his truck.  As a responsible driver, the first call he made was to his dispatcher.  The dispatcher, concerned for the nonperishable canned goods Johnson was hauling, got another driver to […]

---

Appeals court nullifies dangerous trucking regulations

Monday, August 6th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

When it comes to the use of our nation’s highways, there’s a war going on.  After more than three years, the latest battle has been won by those seeking to protect the driving public and reduce the number of people killed in accidents with big rigs, semi-trucks and other large commercial vehicles. 
According to a recent […]

---

Illinois Considers Raising Speed Limit for Trucks

Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

For the third time in five years, Illinois lawmakers are pushing for a uniform speed legislation that would increase the speed limit for large trucks.  The new bill would allow the state to increase the truck speed limit from 55 miles per hour to 65 mph.   In 2003 and 2004, similar attempts to get uniform […]

---

Truck driver’s son settles wrongful death suit

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 by Paul Passanante

The son of a woman who was struck and killed by a tractor trailer as she crossed a parking lot settled a wrongful death suit against the driver and his employer. (B.S. v. Yellow Transportation, Inc., et al.)
T.A., a truck driver, stopped at a Fuel Mart convenience store in Washington, Mo. on Dec. 30, 2004. […]

---

What are the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations?

Friday, June 15th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

In 1935, Congress enacted the Motor Carrier Act, which created the Bureau of Motor Carriers of the Interstate Commerce Commission.  The Bureau was charged to develop and enforce safety regulations in the trucking industry.  As a result, the Bureau developed what are now known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR).
The Federal Motor Carrier […]

---

Trucking Companies May Be Liable For Punitive Damages

Friday, June 15th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

Under a negligence theory, punitive damages may be awarded when the evidence demonstrates that the defendant knew, or had information from which he, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known, that the alleged negligent conduct created a high degree of probability of injury and thereby showed complete indifference or conscious disregard for the […]

---

Motorcyclist hurt in accident with tractor-trailer truck settles suit

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 by John Simon

A motorcyclist hurt in a collision with a tractor-trailer truck settled his personal injury suit for $500,000. (Engelhardt v. Lowery Carnival Co., et al.)
On May 3, 2005, Plaintiff Richard Engelhardt was driving his motorcycle northbound on US Highway 61-67 in the left lane.  Lowery Carnival Company, Inc.’s driver, Mr. Otis Walker was also northbound on […]

---

What Simon Passanante offers to those injured in truck accidents

Saturday, June 9th, 2007 by Erich Vieth

Experienced attorneys.
Methodical review of driver logs and trucking company records
Knowledge of the wide variety of causes of truck accidents: jack-knife, speeding, driving with poor visibility, mechanical failure, tailgating, overloaded or hazardous substance spills
Knowledge of federal and state regulations that apply to trucks and drivers
Thorough investigation to show hidden causes of truck accidents, such as sleep […]

---