Nashville Tractor-Trailer Accident Lawyer Reports On Cause Of Fatal Accident That Resulted In Eleven Deaths
Roadway Departure Crash
In March media sources all over the country covered the tragic tractor-trailer roadway departure crash in Kentucky that took the lives of eleven people. A report yesterday by the Kentucky State Police said that an Alabama truck driver who caused the collision was on his cell phone sending and receiving calls leading up to the crash.
The report also says that the Jasper, Alabama driver was driving in excess of the 70 mph speed limit and did not have his tractor-trailer under control when he crossed the median on March 26 and struck a van carrying Mennonites to a wedding in Iowa.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees the trucking industry, gave Hester Inc. a driver safety evaluation area of 88.4 in February, based on inspections of the company’s 30 drivers during the past 30 months. The agency uses a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the worst score. The company was not considered deficient in other areas, so the agency had not targeted it for a compliance review.
Federal records show the agency has conducted 194 driver inspections on Hester drivers in the 30 months before the wreck. Those inspections resulted in 21 drivers being taken out of service for log book violations, exceeding the 11-hour driving limit or the 14-hour on duty limit.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.
According to the Federal Highway Administration roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and account for the majority of highway fatalities. In 2008, there were 19,794 fatal roadway departure crashes resulting in 22,080 fatalities, which was 53 percent of the fatal crashes in the United States.
If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash caused by a distracted driver or a case like the present one that will require an experienced Tennessee automobile/tractor-trailer accident lawyer contact the lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates for a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
Click Here to Contact Phillip
