The Truck Accident Law Firm Blog

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was established on January 1, 2000. This agency regulates the commercial trucking industry to insure maximum safety for all vehicles on the road today. The FMCSA’s Offices of Analysis and Research and Technology conduct studies to analyze trends in commercial trucking and bus accidents.
Measures Enacted by the FMCSA

The measures implemented by the FMCSA were designed to lower the number of fatal accidents and casualties caused by commercial truck accidents. Those measures include:

• Improving safety information systems and commercial motor vehicle technologies
• Strengthening commercial motor vehicle equipment and operating standards
• Establishing programs for granting commercial driver’s licenses
• Researching and analyzing road safety statistics
• Creating motor carrier safety assistance programs

In order to enact these measures, the FMCSA requires that all motor carriers, including moving companies, register with them. Then, the FMCSA will determine the level of financial and insurance responsibilities for the companies.
"Share the Road" Program

Four years after its establishment, the FMCSA introduced the “No-Zone” or “Share the Road” Program. This campaign was created to educated motorists about how to safely drive on highways with trucks and buses by increasing awareness of the No-Zones: the areas where cars “disappear” from the view of a bus or truck driver. These are the areas where truck accidents are most likely to occur. Hopefully, educating drivers will lead to a marked decrease in deaths, injuries and property damages from truck crashes.

To learn more about how measures implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration affect you, please contact us to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney today.

When you first learn to drive, you learn exactly what to do in case of a car accident. However, accidents involving large commercial trucks are far more complicated. In these cases, you will have to deal with the commercial trucking company in addition to the negligent driver. When coupled with the very serious injuries sustained in a trucking accident, you may not know where to turn next.
How to Protect Your Rights and Best Interests

In a commercial trucking accident, both the driver and the trucking company are responsible for the harm inflicted as a result of negligent or reckless driving. If you have been injured in such an accident, you should immediately seek medical attention for your injuries and the legal counsel of an experienced truck accident attorney so you can obtain adequate compensation for your injuries.

If you have been involved in a truck accident, steps you should take include:

• Seek appropriate medical care – Seeking immediate medical attention for injuries is obvious, but you will also need these records as part of your personal injury lawsuit

• Initiate an investigation – It is important to take pictures of the damage, skid marks, weather conditions and more to give you a detailed account later on. Pictures help to preserve the evidence. You should also get the contact information of any witnesses

• Expert examination of your vehicle – Even after the police report is filed, you will want an independent investigation to determine the speed of the involved vehicles in addition to the fault and cause of the accident

Things you should not do include:

• Speaking to insurance carriers or sign anything without consultation from a qualified truck accident attorney

• Throwing away evidence – Every torn piece of clothing or broken phone could be valuable evidence in your personal injury lawsuit

It is never too early or too late to seek legal counsel. Please contact us to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney in your area today.