Wyoming Truck Accident Victims - Take Note
Was the Truck Accident Caused by Truck Driver Fatigue?
A truck driver's job has never been easy. Truck drivers face irregular days and abnormal hours, switching from day to night and back again with little predictability.
There is no effective minimum wage and no 40 hour workweek or overtime pay. Most truck drivers work more than 60 hours per week - not to "get ahead" but just to make ends meet.
It is no surprise that fatigue is one of the main reasons the trucking accident problem in Wyoming and across the U.S. is so severe.
Explosion of competition leads to truck accident surge
Since the trucking industry was deregulated in 1980, the number of authorized motor carriers in the United States exploded. Today there are between 600,000 and 700,000 motor carriers in America. One carrier may consist of hundreds of trucks.
The resulting unconstrained competition has kept rates and driver pay low. The most common method of payment is still pay by the mile. This means that the longer and farther the driver travels the more pay he or she can earn.
The incentive to drive more and rest less results in truck wrecks
Truck drivers feel a great deal of pressure to continue driving when they know they should stop to rest. Add this to the fact that most drivers are not paid for time they spend waiting to load and unload - and you have drivers traveling as many miles as possible to make up for the lost time.
The dangers of truck driver fatigue are obvious. Long before a fatigued driver falls asleep, he or she suffers from reduced judgment and decision-making capabilities, decreased coordination, poor reaction time, and impaired memory and mental performance.
Trucking groups minimize driver fatigue
Certain trucking groups underrate the problem of driver fatigue as insignificant. They foolishly argue that fatigue plays a role in less than 2% of fatal truck crashes. Yet the world's leading sleep experts agree that fatigue is the largest identifiable and preventable cause of accidents in the transportation business.
We suffer over 5000 fatalities a year in truck crashes in the United States. The fact of the matter is that truck driver fatigue is a serious cause of injury and death in the trucking industry. It should be investigated as a contributing cause of every catastrophic truck accident.
Fatigue-induced truck accident personal injury cases
What can you say about companies that neglect to support their drivers with the right information, training, and supervision to ensure they do not drive while they are fatigued? They are ignoring the greatest risk to the public their operations present.
Such conduct shows neglect for the safety of others. The resulting injuries and death caused by trucking accidents from fatigue should be dealt with severely.
Truck accident litigation involves claims against negligent truck drivers and the trucking companies who hire them. The Harrison Law Firm strives to obtain maximum compensation for clients injured in semi truck crashes and to advocate for changes that will prevent future injuries.
As a Wyoming 18 wheeler accident attorney, Fred Harrison is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association section on semi tractor cases. He also has given a seminar to other Wyoming trial lawyers in the handling of semi tractor-trailer accident cases.
Read about how we help victims of Wyoming truck accidents obtain justice for themselves or their loved one.
