This week the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a nationwide ban that prohibits commercial truck and bus drivers from texting while they’re on the job behind the wheel.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement about the ban, which is aimed at preventing accidents caused by distracted truck and bus drivers. The ban took effect immediately.
“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” LaHood said in a press release, http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot1410.htm. “This is an important safety step, and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving,”
News of the ban was widely reported by the national media, including The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/technology/27distracted.html, and CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/26/trucks.texting.ban/?hpt=T1.
Truckers or bus drivers who violate the new guidelines will be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.
Right now 19 states bar drivers from texting behind the wheel, according to the Ventura, Calif., County Star, http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jan/28/an-obvious-direction-to-go/?print=1.
Its story points out that a tragic 2008 Metrolink commuter train crash, which killed 25 people and injured 135, was mainly blamed on a train engineer texting just prior to the crash.
That story also cites a July study by the Virgina Tech Transportation Institute, which determined that drivers are six times more likely to get in an accident if they are talking or texting on their cell. That survey also found that truckers using a mobile device are 23 times more likely to have a collision.
DOT this week cited Research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which found that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting.
“At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road,” the DOT press release says. “Drivers who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. Because of the safety risks associated with the use of electronic devices while driving, FMCSA is also working on additional regulatory measures that will be announced in the coming months.”
During the September Distracted Driving Summit, LaHood announced that DOT would pursue regulatory action, as well as rulemakings, to reduce the risks posed by distracted driving.
President Obama also signed an Executive Order directing federal employees not to engage in text messaging while driving government-owned vehicles or with government-owned equipment. Federal employees were required to comply with the ban starting Dec. 30.
The regulatory guidance the DOT texting ban are now in the Federal Register.
DOT also has a Web site, http://distraction.gov, where it warns drivers about the perils of driving while using their cell phones, eating, adjusting their radio or text messaging.
Explosive Fuel Truck Accident Kills Driver, Shuts Down Long Island Expressway For 10 Hours
A fuel tanker truck crashed and exploded into flames on the Long Island Expressway early Saturday morning, killing its driver, melting the road and an overhead sign, and shutting down the busy highway for 10 hours.
The truck was trying to avoid hitting a Dodge Neon shortly after 8 a.m., according to The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24tanker.html?scp=1&sq;=truck%20explosion&st;=cse, and a story published online by firehouse.com: http://www.firehouse.com/topics/top-headlines/tanker-crash/fire-closes-ny-expressway, But the driver, Mujihad Shah of Brooklyn, lost control and the truck flipped over.
The tanker exploded, with its top blown off. The flames reached and melted a highway sign, which landed across all eight lanes of the expressway. The collapse of the sign threatened emergency responders and forced officials to close all eight lanes of the highway.
The asphalt at the site of the accident was “basically cooked,” one officials told The Times.
The truck driver’s body remained in the vehicle for more than four hours before it could be retrieved.
The driver of the car that the truck clipped, Marie Medina of Bayonne, N.J., was taken to Nassau University Medical Center by helicopter, according to Newsday. The Times said she sustained minor injuries.
Workers spent many hours cleaning up the wreckage, made more difficult because the 11000-gallon tanker still had 1,000 gallons of gasoline, according to the Newsday report.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://car-accident-rain.com
The truck was trying to avoid hitting a Dodge Neon shortly after 8 a.m., according to The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24tanker.html?scp=1&sq;=truck%20explosion&st;=cse, and a story published online by firehouse.com: http://www.firehouse.com/topics/top-headlines/tanker-crash/fire-closes-ny-expressway, But the driver, Mujihad Shah of Brooklyn, lost control and the truck flipped over.
The tanker exploded, with its top blown off. The flames reached and melted a highway sign, which landed across all eight lanes of the expressway. The collapse of the sign threatened emergency responders and forced officials to close all eight lanes of the highway.
The asphalt at the site of the accident was “basically cooked,” one officials told The Times.
The truck driver’s body remained in the vehicle for more than four hours before it could be retrieved.
The driver of the car that the truck clipped, Marie Medina of Bayonne, N.J., was taken to Nassau University Medical Center by helicopter, according to Newsday. The Times said she sustained minor injuries.
Workers spent many hours cleaning up the wreckage, made more difficult because the 11000-gallon tanker still had 1,000 gallons of gasoline, according to the Newsday report.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://car-accident-rain.com
Truck Driver Carelessness Severely Injures Man’s Face
The below story tells of serious injuries suffered by an Illinois man whose face was shattered by ice falling off of the top of a semi tractor trailer. It speaks as if this is not illegal in Illinois. See
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1978774,ice-shatters-mans-face-010710.article Regardless of whether it violates Illinois law, it is a clear violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations pertaining to Inspection and Maintenance of Equipment.
In the Illinois wreck, according to the Sun Times:
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each driver is required to make sure that his load is safe when he begins a trip, to inspect it after 50 miles and also at least every 150 miles. Slabs of ice on the top of a truck parked outside this time of year are foreseeable. Any reasonable driver would assure that such ice does not accumulate. This driver was clearly negligent. Fortunately it was not negligent homicide.
The Sun Times goes on to report that Morano suffered no brain injury. As I have stated repeatedly on other blogs, there is simply no way to tell in the first few hours after a blow to the head whether a brain injury has occurred, because brain injury is a process, not an event. See http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2009/12/concussion-diagnosis-still-critical-for.html
Before brain injury can be completely ruled out in Morano, he must go back to a medical professional and be tested for amnesia. See my series of videos on this point at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney#p/u/13/x2EKaVHpVd0
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1978774,ice-shatters-mans-face-010710.article Regardless of whether it violates Illinois law, it is a clear violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations pertaining to Inspection and Maintenance of Equipment.
In the Illinois wreck, according to the Sun Times:
A commercial truck — topped with about a foot-and-a-half of snow and ice — was westbound on Butterfield Road between Illinois Route 59 and Eola Road in Aurora about 10 a.m. Monday as Peter Morano was driving in the eastbound lane. When the truck passed under a viaduct, the ice on top of it became unlodged and was sent soaring toward Morano’s windshield.
“It was like an explosion,” Morano recalled while resting at home Wednesday after being released from the hospital.
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each driver is required to make sure that his load is safe when he begins a trip, to inspect it after 50 miles and also at least every 150 miles. Slabs of ice on the top of a truck parked outside this time of year are foreseeable. Any reasonable driver would assure that such ice does not accumulate. This driver was clearly negligent. Fortunately it was not negligent homicide.
The Sun Times goes on to report that Morano suffered no brain injury. As I have stated repeatedly on other blogs, there is simply no way to tell in the first few hours after a blow to the head whether a brain injury has occurred, because brain injury is a process, not an event. See http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2009/12/concussion-diagnosis-still-critical-for.html
Before brain injury can be completely ruled out in Morano, he must go back to a medical professional and be tested for amnesia. See my series of videos on this point at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney#p/u/13/x2EKaVHpVd0