Proving Driver Fatigue After a Truck Accident

 Posted on November 10, 2021 in Car Accident

Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of crashes involving large trucks. Commercial truck drivers work long hours - sometimes longer than they are supposed to. A series of federal regulations govern how long a trucker can drive without stopping, and how long his breaks must be. When drivers ignore those regulations - sometimes with their company’s blessing - devastating crashes can result. The difficulty can be in proving that driver fatigue contributed to the crash. If you were hurt in a trucking accident, it would be wise to contact an attorney as soon as you can. Important evidence can be lost or destroyed very quickly after an accident, so you will want to have your own attorney start investigating right away.

How Can it be Proven that Driver Fatigue Caused the Accident?

A truck driver may be quite literally asleep at the wheel one moment and wide awake the next. In the aftermath of a crash, an adrenaline-fueled driver may not show any signs of drowsiness when the police come to take their report. Officers cannot use roadside drowsiness tests as they would use roadside sobriety tests for a drunk driver. Personal injury lawyers must instead rely on other means to prove that driver fatigue contributed to the accident.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration strictly limits the “hours of service” for commercial truck drivers. Exceeding the limits can result in exhaustion that leads to poor decision-making, slow reaction time, and even falling asleep while driving. Truck drivers are meant to keep logbooks showing the hours they were driving and the hours they were stopped. Unfortunately, truckers can and frequently do forge their logs to fake compliance. Skilled legal investigations do, however, sometimes reveal mistakes or inconsistencies that help demonstrate that a logbook may not be truthful.

Drivers may be able to forge logbook entries, but it is much harder to trick the software included in most modern trucks. Mechanisms in the truck itself are often recording when the truck is moving and when it was stopped. This can be used to demonstrate that a driver was on the road for too long without a break for sleep.

Witness testimony can also be useful. It is possible that someone else saw the truck driver appearing to nod off, drift between lanes, or appear excessively tired at a rest stop a few miles back. If driver fatigue was suspected to be the cause of the accident you were hurt in, a careful investigation may be needed to demonstrate this.

Call a Larimer County Truck Accident Attorney

If you were hurt in an accident with a commercial truck, you will want a skilled attorney to begin investigating quickly to discover evidence and prove your case. Hoggatt Law Office, P.C. is dedicated to recovering compensation for victims harmed by unsafe trucking practices. Our experienced Fort Collins truck accident lawyers will leave no stone unturned investigating your case. Call 970-225-2190 to schedule a free consultation.

Source:

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations