When we get into our cars for work, recreation, errands or any other reason, we should have a basic expectation of being reasonably safe. There are laws in place and strict regulations on the trucking industry that are meant to protect drivers from needless accidents.
However, some situations raise serious questions as to the effectiveness of our current systems and whether we should be doing more to protect drivers.
A Shocking Set of Circumstances
According to a recent article in Overdrive online, a truck driver was involved in an accident that killed another driver. The other driver was standing out by his vehicle after he had been involved in a single car crash earlier that day.
This story is certainly tragic enough on its own.
But the story becomes alarming when looking more closely into the details. The man driving the truck was texting while driving, recovering from a recent methamphetamines high, disqualified from driving by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and was exceeding his maximum hours of service at the time of the accident.
This list of violations and dangerous behaviors is astonishing.
Can’t We Do Better?
This accident raises some important questions about whether we can do more to protect people on the roads.
- More oversight over licensure requirements: This truck driver was disqualified for driving (because he tested positive for meth in January 2015). Why is he on the road? Who hired him?
- More control over texting while driving: The truck driver was apparently texting while driving shortly before the accident. It seems like something should be done to limit this behavior and reduce the risk for everyone.
These are just a couple of examples of how the system is failing right now. If a driver is able to get a trucking job after being grounded by a federal administrative agency and be on the road while coming down from meth and driving too many hours at a time, it seems we can do much more to protect drivers.
A story like this can be quite unsettling for anyone out on the road. Hopefully those charged with protecting our roadways will improve our systems to prevent tragedies like this, but in the meantime, make sure to drive with extreme caution. And if you have been in an accident, talk with an experienced attorney right away.