Dangerous Truck Driver Actions Cited by Police

truck side mirror pixlr

In just one week this past October, truck drivers in the United States and Canada received almost 39,000 citations and warnings for careless driving.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducted its 2017 Safe Driver Week October 15-21.  Law enforcement throughout North America working the event were on heightened alert for bad truck drivers and passenger vehicle drivers, pulling them over when warranted.  Of the 59,193 warnings and citations the police gave that week, 38,878 went to truckers.

This is a particularly significant and appropriate safety event, as driver behavior has been shown to be the leading cause of fatal trucking accidents.

Truck Driver Moving Violations

The overwhelming majority – 84 percent – of the warnings and citations were given to truckers for observed state and local moving violations.  This is a broad category, which can include actions such as:

·         Truck drivers swerving out of their lanes

·         Truck drivers failing to signal when changing lanes

·         Truck drivers rolling through stop signs

Another 7 percent of the truck driver violations were specifically for speeding.

Truck Drivers Using Handheld Cell Phones

Using a handheld cell phone was also among the top five warnings and citations given to truckers.  In the United States, federal law prohibits truck drivers from using handheld mobile phones, for clear and obvious reasons. Truck drivers who dial a cell phone or look for a phone they dropped can take their eyes off the road, which puts other drivers at risk, especially during bad weather or heavy traffic conditions.

Deaths that occur during these scenarios - when trucks plow into stopped or slowed vehicles ahead - largely are preventable; if truckers would only pay full attention to their work.

Other negligent driving citations and warnings handed out to truck drivers were for operating their rigs while fatigued, inattentive driving, texting while driving, and following other vehicles too closely.

These 39,000 trucker citations and warnings occurred in just seven days.  Just imagine how many more bad behaviors went unnoticed that week, and just how much the odds increase that you or a loved one share the road with an unsafe truck driver over a matter of weeks, months and years.

If you are seriously injured or lose a family member in a crash caused by a commercial truck, a truck accident lawyer can investigate and pursue justice on your behalf.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.

Authored by Gray Ritter Graham, posted in Blog December 20, 2017

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