Posted by : attorney stevelee

Feds Need to Ramp Up Safety Standards for Trucking Companies

We can hope that the strict regulations imposed on the trucking industry mean something. We can hope that the safety inspections performed by not only the truck drivers, but also by Department of Transportation inspectors serve a purpose to keep us safe and create a record of potential problems. We can hope that a habitual violator—be it a driver or a company—is not able to continue putting other drivers in danger.

Unfortunately, unsafe drivers and companies are able to stay in business and on the road, a sad fact that we were reminded of in August when a young mother was killed by a runaway truck in Georgia. The truck in question was owned by a company with a record of safety problems—so why was the carrier allowed to continue doing business without addressing pressing issues?

Unsafe Companies Put YOU At Risk

The company in question, Celadon Trucking Services, has been flagged with over 700 unsafe driving violations and 1,500 maintenance violations over the last two years. In the same time frame, drivers for the company (which employs over 2,800 drivers) were charged with 10 drug and alcohol violations.

The driver behind the August 14th crash was charged with a DUI (among other charges), since he was under the influence of prescription medication. He was not even behind the wheel at the time of the accident—he had left the cab to perform a pre-trip inspection but neglected to set the truck’s parking brake.

When companies show a pattern of disregard for safety, either as a whole or among their fleet of drivers, these businesses should not be permitted to expose the public to risk without addressing the issues at hand. By allowing companies to continue operations in an unsafe manner, innocent lives are exposed to the dangers that these companies knowingly allow on the road each day. Hold unsafe companies responsible for their shortcomings, and demand that they pay for the damage they cause.

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