Is That Truck Safe?

According to a recent safety study, hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver’s licenses, despite having qualified for full federal disability payments. In addition, some of these drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency responsible for oversight of commercial vehicle operation in the United States, acknowledges that it has failed to implement any of the eight recommendations that safety regulators have proposed since 2001. These proposals include minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive, and would stop truckers form “doctor shopping” to find a physician who would overlook a risky health condition and certify that a trucker was safe and fit to drive.

Our firm has represented severely injured victims of truck driver negligence in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. In one particular case, the truck driver made an unsafe lane change and forced our client’s vehicle off of Interstate 95 and into a barrier wall. Our client suffered severe brain damage and eventually died as a result of this crash. Our investigation revealed that the truck driver was, for all intents and purposes, deaf and could barely hear. The driver also had been involved in several prior accidents. Despite his physical impairments, he obtained a medical certification to operate a commercial vehicle. Unfortunately, our firm has seen a pattern of truck companies putting corporate profits over the safety of other drivers.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 5,300 people were killed in crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses in 2006, the latest year for which data is available. Further, about 126,000 people were injured in 2006 in such accidents.

A 30 page study from the Government Accountability Office, released this week, investigated unfit truck drivers. According to the results, 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to be eligible for full disability benefits over serious health issues. While eligibility for disability benefits does not always mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, the GAO study found serious and alarming examples. More than 1,000 drivers were identified with vision, hearing or seizure disorders which would generally prohibit a trucker from obtaining a commercial driver’s license.

Tractor Trailers (18 wheelers) are extremely dangerous motor vehicles, especially in the hands of an unfit driver. While governmental organizations and agencies try to ensure that only those medically fit are behind the wheel of such vehicles, often a driver is not caught before a serious accident takes place. The attorneys at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC, work with victims of such incidents on a daily basis, fighting for their full rights and benefits under the law. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a tractor-trailer or bus, call us today at (301)589-2999 x102 for a free consultation.

Mark A. Schofield, Esquire
Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC