Sharing the road with huge semi trucks is unavoidable, but luckily, it’s also often uneventful. In fact, many people may not even really pay much attention to these trucks when driving alongside or behind them. However, it is impossible to ignore them when they are involved in a crash.
It is also in these situations when trucking regulations you may have never heard of before become of great importance to you. For instance, if you have recently lost a loved one in an accident involving a drowsy trucker, you may find yourself needing to learn a lot more about trucking log books. In this post, we will briefly examine some basics of log book requirements and why violations can prove to be catastrophic.
To begin with, you should understand that truckers are required to maintain log books to keep track of their driving. These log books are reviewed to make sure the driver is staying in compliance with Hours of Service regulations, which set rules on the number of hours a trucker can be working between mandatory rest periods to prevent fatigue.
Unfortunately and for many reasons, truckers falsify these records. They may want to maximize their mileage or ensure they deliver cargo on time; some just want to get home and others need to make up for lost time.
In the event of an accident, these logs can provide critical details about the driver’s condition at the time of the crash. If violations or falsification of records are identified, they could support claims that the driver was fatigued and should not have been driving.
Not only can legal support be crucial when it comes to investigating log books, it can also help victims of a truck crash and their families determine who is to blame for the crash. The trucker may certainly at fault, but if a motor carrier knew or should have known about any log book violations, it could also be liable.
This may seem quite complicated and overwhelming, but thankfully you do not have to navigate this process alone. With the help of an attorney familiar with trucking accidents and regulations, you can identify the party responsible for a crash and pursue the damages you deserve.
Source: Truckinginfo.com, “Catching Hours-Of-Service Cheaters,” Tom Bray, Feb. 2016