Federal trucking regulations important to consider after accident

Federal trucking regulations important to consider after accident
On Behalf of Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney • Nov 18, 2016
Did you know that semi-trucks, eighteen-wheelers and other commercial trucks are held to a higher standard of safety and regulation than are the average passenger-vehicle driver? This is due to the higher potential for injury that truck accidents have been known to cause. Truck accident injury sufferers often complain, and rightly so, of the serious injuries they sustained in a trucking accident. In order to help determine the cause or causes behind a truck accident, it can be helpful to look towards federal trucking regulations that govern all type of truck driver, owner and maintenance behaviors that commercial trucks are required to follow.

The reason the laws are enacted are generally for safety reasons. Keeping people safe and saving human life and injury are at the top of the list for federal trucking regulation. After yourself of a loved one has suffered a truck accident injury there are a few places to investigate that can help determine if the truck driver or truck company were negligent. Trucking logs are required by federal law and record daily driver activities such as break periods, maintenance and miles traveled.

For example, if a truck driver did not stop for mandated breaks prior to a crash, he or she could be found negligent. If the truck was required to be pulled in for maintenance and was not, this could also have contributed to truck accident injury. This negligence could be attributed to fault on behalf of the truck company. There is even the potential to attribute negligence to third parties who use a trucking company to haul their product, especially if they knowingly over-filled the truck past legal weight limits.

In short, federal regulations can help determine activities that negligent parties may have participated in prior to a truck accident. It is possible that multiple parties contributed to truck accident injuries, so it’s good to consider this possibility. Even if the injured suspects that they may have contributed to the truck accident doesn’t mean the truck driver or company cannot be found partially at fault. Each truck accident is different and will require a keen eye to determine answers many have after suffering truck accident injury.