Electronic Monitors Would Fight Truck Driver Fatigue
As part of the battle against truck driver fatigue, the federal government has proposed putting an electronic device to track the number of hours a driver spends behind the wheel into every commercial truck and bus in the country.
Electronic on-board recorders will soon be required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for operators with significant safety violations. In addition, some trucking companies have made use of them voluntarily, in part to help increase their own efficiency.
The electronic recorders would eliminate the need for the logs drivers often keep by hand and would make cheating on the amount of time drivers spend behind the wheel more difficult.
The cheating done by trucking companies and drivers potentially increases profits but jeopardizes millions of other travelers on U.S. highways.
"The desire for profit easily encourages truckers and trucking companies to have their trucks on the road for longer hours and with shorter breaks," says Munley, who lectures around the country on truck accident litigation.
"That’s why you need these rules and enforcement measures," says Marion Munley of Munley, Munley & Cartwright. "Someone has to make sure that safety comes before profit."
If someone in your family has been injured in an accident involving a truck, the attorneys of Munley, Munley & Cartwright can advise you. Contact us at (800)318-LAW1 or submit a free online case evaluation.
Costs and benefits
If approved, the new rule regarding the use of electronic monitors measuring the number of hours a truck driver is behind the wheel would likely not take effect until 2015. In addition, the rule would have its costs. About 500,000 companies would collectively have to spend perhaps as much as $1.9 billion to outfit rigs with the electronic recorders.
The Transportation Department estimates carriers would spend $1,500 to $2,000 per truck to buy and install an electronic recorder. The recorders also would come with annual service fees. However, the department also sees significant benefits to safety, efficiency and reduced paperwork - for both the government and trucking companies. The department estimates annual savings of at least $334 million across the industry.
However, eliminating highway fatalities may be the biggest benefit of the proposed rules. The U.S. Transportation Safety Board estimates that drowsy drivers are a probable factor in up to 40 percent of all truck crashes.
Large trucks accounted for 13 percent of all passenger vehicle deaths in 1999 yet represented only 3 percent of all registered vehicles, according to statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration released in 2000.
If someone in your family has been injured in an accident involving a truck, the attorneys of Munley, Munley & Cartwright can advise you. Contact us at 877-421-9175or submit a free online case evaluation.
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