Texas Truck Accident Cases Differ from Car Accident Cases Due to FMCSRs
Truck accidents are often more serious than collisions which involve only passenger vehicles. Victims are more likely to sustain grave injuries or be killed in truck accidents. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates around 70 percent of the victims who die in fatal truck accidents aren’t in the truck but are instead pedestrians, motorcyclists, bikers, or occupants of other cars on the road. Victims who get hurt in truck accidents need to understand what their rights are and how truck accident cases differ from many other types of car accident injury claims.
Federal Rules Make Truck Accident Cases Different
One of the most fundamental things truck accident victims need to understand is how federal regulations, called Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) affect their truck accident claim.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations affect their claims, first and foremost, by guaranteeing there is much more insurance coverage available to pay for losses and damages than there would be in a typical car accident case involving two cars only. In Texas, drivers of passenger vehicles have to buy $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident in liability coverage. This means if a driver causes a collision and three people get hurt, each person could get up to $30,000 but the total amount which would be paid out to all three victims by the insurance would not exceed $60,000.
In truck accident cases, however, there is much more coverage available. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation no. 387.9 requires at least $750,000 in liability insurance coverage be carried for most typical commercial trucks. If there is a truck which transports hazardous materials, the minimum liability coverage limits could be $5 million.
The Law Offices of Gene Hagood 1001 Westloop South, Suite 745 Houston, TX 77027 (713) 888-0390 Click To View Map
Snow & Ice On Top of Trucks Increases Risk of Detroit Truck Accidents
When you think of winter truck accidents in Detroit, most people think of snow and ice on the roads which could cause a truck to spin out of control. While this is a concern, it is not the only concern. There is another place that snow and ice could form as well: the tops of tractor trailers. If not properly cleared off, snow and ice on top of a tractor trailer could fly off as the trucker is driving. Recently, when a large chunk of ice and snow fell off a tractor trailer, it ended up hitting the windshield of an SUV, breaking the windshield, and causing the SUV driver to sustain an injury.
Prevention of crashes caused by snow and ice falling off trucks is important. Some states have already passed laws imposing an affirmative responsibility on truck drivers to clear off their trucks. Other states are considering the passage of such laws. Penske warns that truck drivers who travel throughout the country and who cross state lines must be aware of the different rules in the states they are crossing to so they will understand their obligations for the removal of snow and ice.
States Require Snow and Ice Removal to Reduce Truck Crash Risks
Trucking Info reported on some of the new efforts under way by states to make sure truckers are held accountable if they do not clear snow and ice off their vehicles. In one proposed law, there would be an affirmative responsibility to take reasonable steps for snow and ice removal imposed upon any trucks weighing 48,000 pounds or greater. Truckers could be pulled over and given a citation and fine just for failure to remove snow, even if nothing went wrong. If snow and ice wasn’t removed and fell off the truck and caused property damage or an accident, the trucker would be fined up to $1,000.
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