Any motor vehicle accident can have tragic results; however, a collision with a tractor-trailer or other large truck is more likely than most to cause serious injuries to the occupants of the vehicles involved in the crash. With this in mind, the United States federal government heavily regulates the trucking industry. If you are injured in a trucking accident it may be helpful to your lawsuit to know if the truck involved in the accident was in violation of any of these trucking rules and regulations.

In the U.S., the Federal Motor Carrier Administration, or FMCA, is responsible for making safety rules and regulations that apply to large trucks and busses and enforcing those rules. As part of the Department of Transportation, the FMSA, works hard to try and keep America’s roadways as safe as possible for those who travel those roads. FMCA rules and regulations are voluminous and cover everything from required safety inspections to eligibility to hold a commercial driver’s license to Hours of Service rules that dictate how long a truck driver is allowed to remain behind the wheel without a rest period. To stay in business, trucking companies must abide by the FMCA rules. Likewise, to hold a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, a driver must also abide by the rules. A driver and/or trucking company found to be in violation of the FMCA rules and regulations faces anything from a fine to being taken out of commission.

When a tractor-trailer is involved in an accident, negligence, or fault, must be determined. Not all accidents involving a large truck are caused by the driver of the truck. For an injured motorist or passenger to be entitled to compensation after a trucking accident though, the injured party must prove that someone else caused, or contributed to, the accident. Violating a federal safety rule does not alone prove that a truck driver or trucking company was at fault in an accident; however, it is often an indicator of negligence, or fault, in an accident. For example, if the truck driver was in violation of the “Hours of Service” rules it could indicate that the driver was driving drowsy, a common contributing factor in trucking accidents.

If you suffered injuries in a Michigan trucking accident and you believe the truck was at fault in the accident, contact an experienced Michigan trucking accident attorney right away.

If you were injured in a trucking accident chances are good that you suffered serious injuries. If the truck driver caused, or contributed to, the collision you may be entitled to compensation for those injuries. Litigating a trucking accident case is fundamentally the same as any other motor vehicle accident; however, there are some important differences that do make trucking accident cases different than other motor vehicle accident cases.

The extent and severity of the injuries involved is one distinguishing feature of trucking accidents. While injuries from a passenger vehicle crash can also be severe, a victim stands a much better chance of being seriously, even fatally, injured when a tractor-trailer is involved in a collision. When injuries are severe or fatal, it typically takes longer to settle a motor vehicle accident case.

The most important difference though in a trucking accident case is that there are frequently multiple defendants involved. If a truck collides with your vehicle, you may end up including a variety of parties as defendants in the lawsuit, including, but not limited to:

• Truck driver
• Trucking company
• Owner of the cargo
• Manufacturer of the tractor-trailer
• Maintenance company/provider

Litigating a case where multiple defendants are involved is much more complicated than a case with just one defendant. First, it must be determined that someone was negligent. To be entitled to any compensation, you will have to prove that someone other than you was over 50 percent at fault in the collision. If multiple defendants are involved, it must then be determined which of the defendants share in that negligence and to what extent. For example, let’s assume that the truck is determined to be 100 percent at fault in an accident wherein you stopped suddenly and the truck rear-ended you because it was following too close. It turns out, however, that proper maintenance was not performed on the truck, causing the brakes not to operate properly. That, in turn, made the accident worse than it should have been. Therefore, the trucking company might share some blame for not making sure the maintenance was performed properly. The maintenance provider might also share some blame for shoddy workmanship. Of course, the truck driver is also at fault for following too closely. Those three parties will eventually be responsible for 100 percent of you injuries; however, dividing up the fault can be an arduous process that will likely require the assistance of an accident reconstruction expert – another common difference in trucking accidents.

Ultimately, a trucking accident case will be resolved in the same way as any motor vehicle accident case – by out of court settlement or trial. Trucking accident cases are just more complex and often take more time to reach a resolution.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident, or have lost a loved one in one, contact an experienced Michigan trucking accident attorney as soon as possible to determine if you are entitled to compensation for your injuries or your loss.

In the United States we continue to depend heavily on the trucking industry to move goods and merchandise from point A to point B. As a result, the nation’s highways and roadways are typically saturated with tractor-trailers at any given time of the day or night. Unfortunately, this also means that large trucks are frequently involved in collisions – often with tragic results. One common cause of trucking accidents is driver fatigue. Despite the Hours of Service Rules, or HOS rules,  for truck drivers imposed by the U.S. federal government, truck drivers often continue to drive when they are too tired to be behind the wheel. If you have been injured in a Michigan trucking accident, or have lost a loved one to one, a better understanding of the HOS rules may help you determine if the defendant was in violation of those rules and, if so, if that violation contributed to the collision.

Truck drivers make their living behind the wheel. Frequently, they are paid by the load or by the mile driven. This provides an incentive to drive more and drive farther. As far back as the early 1940s efforts were made to try and limit the number of hours a truck driver could drive without a sufficient rest period. Since then, various schemes have been implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, to ensure that truck drivers aren’t driving while drowsy. The FMCSA is the federal agency responsible for promulgating and enforcing safety rules for the trucking industry in the U.S. The goal of the HOS rules is to ensure that truck drivers don’t drive for too long at one time and don’t spend too many cumulative hours behind the wheel each week. The most recent changes to the HOS rules took effect in July of 2013 and include the following provisions:

• Limiting the maximum average work week for truck drivers to 70 hours, a decrease from the previous maximum of 82 hours;
• Allowing truck drivers who reach the maximum 70 hours of driving within a week to resume if they rest for 34 consecutive hours, including at least two nights when their body clock demands sleep the most – from 1-5 a.m., and;
• Requiring truck drivers to take a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a shift.

Truck drivers who violate the HOS rules can be fined and/or have their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) suspended or revoked for multiple violations. Trucking companies that allow, or even encourage, drivers to ignore the HOS rules can also be fined or lose their license to operate.

A violation of the HOS rules is not, per se, proof of negligence on the part of a truck driver involved in a collision; however, it can certainly be evidence that the driver was driving while fatigued which may have caused, or contributed to, the collision.

If you have been injured, or lost a loved one, in a Michigan trucking accident, contact an experienced Michigan trucking accident attorney right away  to determine what legal options you may have.