There are a number of trucks that pass through Long Island every year and, unfortunately, some of them are involved in very serious crashes. There are a number of reasons as to why a truck driver may cause an accident, but many accident investigators point to truck driver fatigue as a major cause of accidents. Since trucking companies are paid to deliver loads quickly, there is a reason as to why some truckers will keep driving even when they are tired. At the same time, a trucker’s choice to keep his or her supervisors happy by driving past when he or she should stop and rest may put innocent drivers at risk.
Hopefully, an electronic device that records how long a truck has been driven would go far to reduce the risk of accidents. In 2012, Congress was able to order the Obama administration to issue a regulation that would require just such a device. Two years later and the recent proposal by the Department of Transportation secretary is one step closer to fulfilling that mandate.
Even though many larger companies voluntary use these devices, it is smaller trucking companies and individual truckers who own their own vehicles who have some hesitations about the device. Perhaps they are concerned that these devices are harder to forge than the paper books they are so accustomed to using.
While there are restrictions in place that dictate how long a truck driver can drive or how much time he or she must have off, there are some trucking companies who are more concerned with getting their shipments delivered than they are with federal laws and motorists’ safety.
Source: The Associated Press, “Devices to track truck, bus driver hours proposed,” Joan Lowy, March 13, 2014
