Bad Weather Truck Wrecks in Georgia

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A trucker going too fast for roadway conditions in bad weather has always been a serious cause of  wrecks. The question is how do you define “bad weather” and what is the standard for trucker drivers who drive in adverse weather?

 

There is a specific federal regulation – federal motor carrier safety regulation – that addresses this topic.  FMCSR §392.14 says: 

Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke, adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist.  If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be operated safely.  

This FMCSR sets a very high standard of care on professional drivers when operating in anything less than ideal conditions.  This high standard is appropriate because of the dangers posed by trucks in adverse weather conditions.   

The duty to know when it is safe or not is on the trucker, but consider the real world.  Truckers don’t get paid usually unless they are driving.  Some trucking companies put pressure on drivers to get the truck to its destination because the trucking company does not get paid until the freight is delivered.  So, I bet you can see the problem….

Another interesting source on the subject is the CDL manual.  This is the manual all drivers have to study to get their CDL license.  In the CDL Manual, it says:

Wet roads can double stopping distance.  You must drive slower to be able to stop in the same distance as on a dry road.  Reduce speed by abourt one-third (e.g., slow from 55 to 35 mph) on a wet road.  On packed snow, reduce by a half or more.  If the surface is icy, reduce speed to a crawl and stop as soon as you can safely do so. 

It is hard for trucker drivers or trucking safety directors to run from either the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations or the CDL Manual when it comes to bad weather. The starting point is always the FMCSA.

Guest Post from Trucking Attorney Joe Fried

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 Joe Fried and his firm are to me the consummate trucking lawyers. He's accomplished and to be blunt, knows his stuff. Here's a guest post from Joe:

What can you get from a Caterpillar Engine Control Module (ECM) or Electronic Data Recorder (EDR)?

I recently was asked to do a presentation to a bunch of lawyers and police officers on the current state of technology with tractor trailer black boxes.  So, I had to brush up to make sure my information was current.  I thought this may be useful to some of you who handle tractor trailer cases.   

Most large truck engines have an engine control module (ECM), sometimes called a black box or an Electronic Data Recorder (EDR), that is responsible for monitoring and controlling important engine and vehicle parameters, such as speed, throttle, and braking. You can download this information from the truck engine, but what exactly you should expect to get depends very much on the manufacture of the engine and the date of manufacture. 

In this post, I present you with what you can expect from a Caterpillar engine.  If you would like to know what to expect from other manufacturers (Detroit Diesel, Mack, Cummins, International), shoot me an e-mail at joe@thetruckingattorneys.com  (Put “ECM paper” in the subject box) and I will get you a copy of the entire paper.  The powerpoint slides I used in my presentation is available at Slideshare.com.

Here is the skinny on the Caterpillar black box ECM:

Used in many Peterbilt, Kenworth and International tractors.

Caterpillar engine ECMs have been able to record sudden decelerations (“quick stops”) since 1995, but the factory default was set to not record any such data.  Some customers change this threshold but not many.  For these engines, there is no way to determine with the data will be recorded without downloading the box. 

Starting in 2007 the engines started being shipped with “quick stop” function set to “on.”  This was the result of new environmental standards.  The quick stop record contains 45 seconds of data before the threshold is met and 15 seconds of data after the threshold is reached. 

The Quick Stop Record contains:

·         Wheel speed (mph)

·         Engine load (percent)

·         Service brake status (on/off)

·         Clutch status (on/off)

·         Cruise control status (on/off)

·         Other parameters defined by end-user

Caterpillar engine ECMs will also record a report called a “snap shot” if the engine senses a critical fault in the engine such as dangerously low oil pressure.  When triggered the ECM will capture about 9 seconds leading up to the fault and 3 seconds after the fault is triggered.  This can be useful in timing a collision, but it is not nearly as helpful as a DDEC.  

Thanks Joe!

Another guest post from him in the near future.