Drawbacks of the Interstate Highway System
Since President Eisenhower created the interstate Highway system in the 1950’s America has enjoyed the ability to move freely across the country in rapid pace. In addition the trucking industry eclipsed the rail system in the volume of goods moved across the country. In a real sense, the interstate highway system is a key factor to America becoming a super power. A consequence of the high speed roads, passenger cars must travel side by side with semi tractor trailers. This creates the very real potential for car wrecks which result in fatal accidents, back injuries, brain injury, motorcycle accidents, spinal cord injury and wrongful death. A truck accident is one of the most devastating types of traffic accidents because of the vast difference in size between a truck and a car or motorcycle. It is kind of like the rule of gross tonnage in shipping. The ship with the highest gross tonnage usually wins in a collision.
In an effort to minimize the devastating effect of car truck collisions, trucks are highly regulated. The Federal Motor Safety Carrier Regulations are an attempt to keep us all safe. These rules and regulations were put into effect by an act of congress, after several statistical studies, included those performed by the Office of Motor Carriers of the Federal Highway Administration. These studies revealed some startling statistics. In 2005, 5,212 people died in accidents with trucks. Those who were not killed, but were injured totaled more than 100,000. Almost 40% of those truck accidents were caused by truck driver error.
The Federal Rules can be found at Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulation. Indiana adopted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation as part of our state regulatory scheme. It may seem obvious, but the purpose of these rules is to promote uniform rules, applicable across the country for trucks and trucking. In this way everyone has the same set of rules to follow so everyone can be safe. This uniform set of rules also justifies the basic idea that ignorance of the law is no excuse. This helps avoid truck accidents which might result in bad accidents resulting in paralysis.
In our next blog we will be covering specifics of the act. Rest assured that Young and Young has the knowledge to fully and aggressively represent Hoosiers, and their families who have been hurt or killed in a truck accident. We have had a presence in the Indiana Legal community for more than one hundred years. Our Firm has been operating under the Young and Young name for more than 55 years. We have represented hundreds of families involved in truck accidents. We have represented families with serious injury including brain injury, spinal cord injury, paralysis and death. We stand ready to help you and your family.