It has been known for a long time that people who drive semi-trucks and other commercial vehicles in Georgia may be at a high risk of experiencing fatigue when behind the wheel. Driving any vehicle while you are tired can increase the risk of getting into an accident, and this is certainly true when operating an extremely large and heavy truck. The tragedy that can result from a single truck accident is something that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration focuses on preventing when developing its rules for truckers.
The FMCSA instituted new regulations in the last few years that reduced the number of hours a trucker could drive in one day and in one working week. It also outlined the requirements for when a trucker must take a break and how long the break periods should last.
Now, there is a new set of rules designed to enforce compliance with these hours of service guidelines. It mandates that trucks be outfitted with devices that electronically track the location, date and time that a truck’s engine idles or is actively driven. These electronic logging devices replace hardcopy paper logs and may help to reduce the number of instances where truckers keep driving when they should not.
If you would like to learn more about how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is attempting to improve safety on the road and how you might seek assistance after an accident involving a potentially fatigued trucker has occurred, please feel free to visit the truck crash compensation page of our Georgia personal injury website.
