Lower Makefield Pennsylvania 18-wheeler accident attorney

Lower Makefield Pennsylvania 18-wheeler accident attorney John M, Kenney will fight for you to get the legal settlement for your accident that you deserve.

One of the most frequent causes of 18-wheeler negligence is driver fatigue. 18-wheeler drivers are almost always under the gun to drive faster and longer without a rest in order to maximize the profits for the company they work for. As a result of the frequency of accidents they cause, trucking companies are required to keep diligent records that accurately log the hours that a driver is on the road. Gaining access to these records is the key to proving that a driver could have been driving drowsy and fell asleep or nodded off causing the collision.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed that electronic logging devices be installed on all commercial trucks. The rule could go into effect as early as September 2017. Currently, hours of service regulations require only written logs be kept. A trucker’s log must include miles traveled, hours driven, and rest periods. These logs are easily fraudulently manipulated when a driver or his company’s lawyers are faced with an investigation or lawsuit. It is difficult to prove that a company has not doctored the records. One strategy is to request the driver’s most recent 12 months of logs to see if there was a pattern of manipulation in the past.

Electronic Logging Devices monitor when the 18-wheeler is started, the distance traveled and the average speed. GPS allows the trucking company to see exactly where its fleet of vehicles is at any point in time. In the event of an accident, ELD data would be sent immediately and directly to the police. Also, any non-compliance with company policies on driver resting or speeding would be automatically made known to the company to correct.

Electronic Logging Devices seem to be an intelligent way to help prevent catastrophic 18-wheeler accidents in the future as well as provide those injured and the loved ones of those killed by driver negligence concrete proof.