2009 November Archive

As a Washington truck accident lawyers, Kirk Bernard has seen first-hand, the serious personal injuries caused by truck accidents. A number of these accidents are caused by truck drivers. But Washington State Patrol authorities say that a number of these catastrophic big rig accidents can be prevented if drivers of passenger vehicles took more precautions and preventive steps to avoid them. Here are seven tips that I can offer, based on my experience representing injured truck accident victims:

1. Do not drive in a trucker’s blind spots. It’s always a bad idea to linger alongside a truck. For such a large vehicle, understand that there are larger blind spots. The truck driver may not be able to see you if you hang around in a blind spot. The best thing to do is to pass trucks quickly or let them pass.
2. Do not tailgate a large truck. If you follow too closely, you’re asking for trouble. Leave plenty of distance between you and the truck.
3. Be very cautious in bad weather situations or at night time when visibility is lower.
4. Maintain your vehicle properly. Make sure that if you need to make a sudden stop to avoid an accident, your brakes are working properly.
5. Report a trucker who is driving or behaving dangerously. If you observe a truck driver that is operating the truck erratically or without proper equipment, please note the registration numbers on the vehicle. Who knows? You may have helped save someone else’s life by taking a dangerous truck driver off the road.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Seattle tractor trailer accident or you wish to discuss your truck accident claim, please contact one of the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group for a free and comprehensive consultation and case evaluation.

The Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) have agreed to change truck drivers’ hours-of-service regulations. This is a move by the Obama Administration to settle a lawsuit brought by several consumer safety advocacy groups including Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The action was filed after a ruling issued by the Bush administration dramatically expanded driving and working hours by allowing truckers to drive up to 11 consecutive hours instead of 10 per shift. That rule also cut off-duty rest and recovery time at the end of the week from a full weekend of 50 or more hours to as little as 34 hours.

This created an extremely dangerous situation on our roadways putting tired and fatigued truckers on the road. This settlement basically requires the government to draft a new proposed rule governing hours of service within nine months and to publish a final rule within 21 months.

As Washington truck accident attorneys, we at The Bernard Law Group welcome this settlement. Every day, truck drivers fall asleep in their cabs because they work too long with too little rest, causing catastrophic accidents. Very often, truck companies allow this to happen and even encourage their drivers to falsify logs because they want to increase their profits by delivering more goods within a shorter period of time. Unrealistic schedules and truckers’ extremely long work hours combine to make a deadly combination, which results in tragedies for the driving public.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington truck accident, the skilled and aggressive Seattle personal injury attorneys at The Bernard Law Group can help. We will make sure that your legal rights are protected and that you are compensated fairly for the injuries and losses you have suffered as a result of someone else’s negligence. Call Kirk Bernard today for a free consultation and evaluation of your Washington truck accident claim.

Source:http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2987

Injuries were reported in a big rig accident in Shelton, Washington, involving a dump truck pulling a trailer loaded with logs. According to a King5 news report, the truck pulling the logs rolled over on the southbound Highway 101. Two passenger cars were reportedly struck by the logs. Another passenger car also rolled over. Based on this report, it’s not very clear how serious the injuries were to the occupants of the two passenger cars that were involved in this truck accident.

Big rig accidents can be devastating, especially to the occupants of smaller passenger vehicles because of the size and weight of these large trucks. They can cause quite a bit of damage and serious, if not catastrophic, injuries to the occupants of the smaller vehicles. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the federal agency that oversees trucking safety in the United States, trucks make up for less than 4 percent of all passenger vehicles on our nation’s roads. However, they are involved in 12 percent of all auto accident fatalities. That number alone tells us that fatality rates are significantly higher in truck accidents.

There are many causes for truck accidents. However, when these truckers and trucking companies violate federal safety standards to make a quick buck and cause a serious accident in the process of doing so, they must be held liable. Trucking companies are negligent when they allow their drivers to remain on-the-job for longer hours than they are supposed to work. This causes truck drivers to become fatigued and cause accidents. In some cases, truck accidents occur when trucking companies overload their big rigs. This can cause brake failure and cause a truck to go out of control on the roadway. Finally, a trucking company can be negligent when it fails to maintain its vehicles properly and that leads to a crash.

Whatever the reason, if you have been seriously injured in a Washington truck accident, please call the Seattle personal injury attorneys at The Bernard Law Group for a free evaluation of your claim. In the past, we have settled with negligent trucking companies’ insurance carriers on behalf of our injured clients. As a truck accident victim, you can seek compensation for medical costs, loss of wages and other related damages. Call Kirk Bernard today for a free consultation.

Source:http://www.king5.com/news/Crash-blocks-Hwy-101-south-of-Shelton-69791792.html