Trucker Fatigue and Accidents
March 23, 2020
The truck driver lawyers in Montana at Bulman, Jones & Cook have seen a wide range of truck accidents over decades. Many of those accidents occur on Interstate Highway 90 that stretches across the state. It’s a long road, so whether a driver is traveling it during the day or night, fatigue can set in.
Unrealistic Schedules
As per the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the primary cause of commercial truck crashes is driver fatigue. Although there are hours of service rules that have been imposed, truck drivers work with unrealistic schedules to meet deadlines. Those schedules cause some drivers to spend too many hours behind the wheel. Couple fatigue with adverse road or weather conditions and driver inexperience, and the likelihood of a crash increases dramatically.
Expect Severe and Permanent Injuries
A fully loaded semi-trailer can be more than 70 feet long and weigh more than 80,000 pounds. They’re enormous, and they can easily crush a passenger car or pickup truck. If an accident victim is lucky enough to live through such a crash, expect to see severe and permanent injuries. The truck driver’s insurer will know right away that it’s in for substantial financial exposure, so it’s going to do everything within it’s power to either try or shift responsibility for the accident or devalue the injured person’s claim. When that happens, you don’t just want to hire any Montana personal injury attorney. You’ll want an experienced and respected Montana truck accident attorney representing you.
Don’t give a statement of any kind to the opposing insurer. Contact Bulman, Jones & Cook after being injured in any Montana Truck accident. If you’re a trucker who was injured by another truck driver, we’re attorneys for truck drivers who have been injured in crashes too.
Contact us as soon as possible after being injured in any truck crash.