Legal Insight: Trucking Industry Safety Challenges

Have You Been Injured by a Semi Truck? Let’s face it. Whether it’s distribution of oil or gasoline, household goods, even food simply could not be the same without the trucking industry. Trucking companies and their drivers play a vital role in the everyday lives of Americans everywhere.

However, this fact doesn’t put them above and beyond the law. There are still rules and guidelines that must be followed in order to protect the citizens who use our roads and interstate system. When these laws are neglected by truck drivers, the results can be horrible for everyone involved.

The daily routine

My normal route leaving the office to drive home every afternoon required I drive just three quarters of a mile on the interstate. There really wasn’t even a need for me to get up to full speed. I would get on and leave the busy road on the next exit. It had been my routine for almost five years.

I live in a bigger city so traffic can get congested every now and then, but there usually isn’t too much to worry about. Like I said, I spend less than a minute, two at the most, actually driving on the interstate. Every now and then things would slow down to about 45 miles an hour, but that was typically as bad as it would get.

The first day they began doing construction work on the interstate was intense. Traffic had come to a stand still that morning on my way to the office and I had heard it would be the same on the way back. I didn’t have to be on the road long, but there wasn’t any other choice. It was my only option without driving almost an hour out of my way.

My worst nightmare

After driving just a few feet off the entrance ramp and onto the busy highway, I was forced to come to a complete stop. After sitting still less than a minute, a truck driver slammed into the back of my car, crunching my vehicle between his rig and the van in front of me. He hit me at a high enough speed the impact smashed me in between the driver’s seat and the steering wheel, pinning me with no way to escape.

I broke four ribs, experienced severe internal bruising and swelling, a broken my left arm, and dislocated my right knee because the impact twisted my leg. Although my injuries weren’t necessarily life threatening, I was horrified at the fact I was trapped and could not move until the emergency workers arrived on the scene to literally cut me out of my vehicle.

After visiting http://tmaddenlaw.com/augusta/, I learned the man driving the truck had not been properly inspecting his vehicle every morning before starting his trip. As a result, he was unaware of how thin his brake pads were. With the combination of the faulty brakes and the weight of his load, the driver was unable to stop the semi in time before colliding with me.

If he would have been following federal guidelines for the trucking industry, this accident could have been avoided. I understand, things that are beyond our control happen. However, because the driver failed to perform a job duty that was required by law, my life was drastically affected.

There is not a doubt in my mind that without the law team I hired to represent me in the case, I would not have been compensated in the way. In case you are wondering, yes, I still drive on the interstate twice a day. Now I do everything I can to complete three quarters of a mile as quickly as possible.