Higher Rates of Seatbelt Use, Ban on Text Messaging Will Increase Safety for Truck Drivers

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Jason Schultz

The year 2010 has seen a number of new measures aimed at trucking safety. First, there was the ban on texting while driving for all commercial truck drivers.  While no Atlanta truck accident lawyers doubt that a measure like this will keep motorists safer from distracted truckers, it's also true that the truck drivers will benefit from having their attention focused 100% on the highway ahead of them.

News on truckers seat belt usage is encouraging - the numbers of truckers buckling up is higher than in 2007. According to figures released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 74% of all truck drivers now wear seatbelts while driving. Those figures are up from 65% in 2007.

Some interesting facts came out in the FMCSA survey.

·         Truck drivers in states that have primary enforcement seat belt laws were more likely to buckle up, as compared to those in states that have secondary enforcement. In primary enforcement states, the compliance rate was 76%, while in other states it was just 67%.

·         Drivers working for national fleets had a better rate of compliance with seatbelt laws, as compared to drivers working as independent operators.

·         Western states have the highest seatbelt compliance rates with an average of 79% of truckers wearing seat belts.

·         The worst compliance rates were seen in the northeastern states, with just 64% of drivers buckling up.

·         Southern states had a respectable compliance rate of 75%, which is better than the national average, while the Midwest had a compliance rate of 68%.

Most truck safety efforts focus on the safety of those sharing the road with trucks, for good reason. In approximately 80% of truck accidents, it’s the occupants of the smaller vehicle that have the highest risk of injuries and death. However, every year, hundreds of truck drivers are seriously injured or killed in accidents as well. Wearing a seatbelt is certainly one way a truck driver can increase his or her chances of survival in a truck wreck.

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DOT to Adopt NHTSA Bus Safety Plan to Prevent Accidents

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Jason Schultz

 

A series of bus accidents in recent months in Georgia and around the country have focused attention on our antiquated bus safety laws, including the failure to mandate seatbelts on buses, and have better scrutiny of motor coach companies.

 

As an Atlanta bus accident lawyer, I have been particularly troubled by the fact that NTSB recommendations to the FMCSA to mandate seatbelts on buses have been ignored for several years. That’s why it is very encouraging to read about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its Motor Coach Safety Action Plan that aims to prevent accidents and minimize injuries.   The plan includes measures that will

 

  • Require on-board recorders that will prevent motor coach drivers from operating their vehicles for longer than stipulated by federal laws. This will minimize the number of bus crashes that are caused by driver fatigue, like the one involving a casino bus in California that killed 11 people last year.
  • Ban drivers from text messaging while at the wheel, and place restrictions on the use of cell phones while driving. Studies have shown that the risk of accidents increases by 23 percent when a driver is texting at the wheel.
  • Make it harder for shady bus operators to be able to quickly rename companies and continue operations, when they are forced to shut down after violations have been found. Such unscrupulous companies find it easy to cover their tracks after an accident, making it hard for investigators to find out who owns the bus.
  • Require seatbelts on buses.
  • Develop stronger roof crush and collapse standards to prevent the kind of serious injuries that often occur when the roof of the bus disintegrates in a collision.

The Department of Transportation has already indicated its intention of adopting these measures. Seatbelt use may have prevented the kind of serious injuries and fatalities that occurred in the Bluffton University bus accident in Atlanta in 2007, which killed 7 occupants. The NTSB recommended seatbelts, and their use, on buses several decades ago, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has failed to act on these recommendations.

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