December 13, 2023
How to drive in hazardous conditions: A warning to drivers of cars, pickups and smaller motor vehicles about the dangers of negligent truck drivers
Bull Attorneys brings you this safety message for drivers of passenger cars and pickups in hazardous weather conditions. Experienced personal injury lawyers who concentrate their law practice in auto accidents with large trucks and 18-wheelers understand that 40 CFR 392.14 is a federal regulation under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) that applies to commercial motor vehicles.
Part 392.14 requires that the drivers of commercial motor vehicles slow down speed or cease operations and stop driving when weather conditions become hazardous or become sufficiently dangerous. This can be for all types of hazardous weather conditions that adversely affect visibility or traction, like:
- Snow
- Ice
- Sleet
- Fog
- Mist
- Rain
- Dust
- Smoke
Wind is another weather condition that can cause large trucks and semis to be forced off the traveled road or blown into an adjacent lane of travel.
Professional truck drivers must understand and comply with this federal regulation. Drivers of passenger cars and smaller motor vehicles need to be cautious when in the same weather conditions and watch out for tractor-trailers and other large trucks that fail to slow their speed or stop driving.
The average truck driver does not know or pay attention to this federal safety mandate. As a result of their not knowing or understanding the rule, thousands of innocent drivers of passenger cars and pickups end up severely injured because the truck drivers are not trained about this regulation and negligently continue driving their large heavy vehicles when it is unsafe to do so.
In Semi-truck accident cases, a regular motorist must prove the truck driver and their employer are negligent. A substantial number of ordinary personal injury attorneys are unaware of this regulation and can fail to use it as a primary legal allegation for negligence in your case.
Using this claim brings the lawyer and client the ability to bring a claim for negligent training and supervision against the truck driver's employer. This helps add an additional party who is negligent and can substantially increase insurance coverage to pay financial compensation to truck injury victims.
You need to understand that many truck drivers are never taught anything about this rule of law. This makes the hazardous weather conditions much more dangerous to the occupants of smaller motor vehicles.
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The main reasons truck drivers driving in dangerous weather conditions cause catastrophic accidents are:
- Truck drivers will fun into the back of slowing or stopped traffic when they cannot brake because of rain, ice, sleet, and snow.
- Truckers driving in fog, smoke and dust cannot see other cars, motor vehicles, and frequently cause substantial life-threatening accidents by running into other vehicles on the road.
- Big rig drivers operating in high wind conditions, especially like the wind conditions in the Midwest in states like Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico and Texas are supposed to stop driving once winds are as high as 40-50 mph because it can blow their tractor-trailer into the opposite lane of travel where it can result in a head-on crash.
- Semi drivers driving tractor-trailers in farming and rural areas across the Midwest and United States frequently run into smoke and poor visibility conditions from farmers burning off their last crops. These types of accident result in chain reaction collisions with several other vehicles at a time with most occupants having severe injury or fatality.
Why Should You Consult with a Kansas Truck Accident Lawyer from Bull Attorneys?
Our Kansas truck accident lawyers are highly trained in understanding federal regulations and the complex laws that apply to trucking cases. A true experienced trucking attorney knows:
- Failure to plead this negligence came can result in smaller damages.
- Having a deep understanding of what hazardous conditions are can make a trucking claim much higher in value.
- Adding claims like failure to follow the FMCSR safety standards can increase your chances of winning.
- Adding negligence claims of regulatory violations can help a semi-truck accident claim by adding claims of reckless disregard for human life, wanton conduct and willful conduct can allow a claim for punitive damages to punish the truck driver and motor carrier.
- The hazardous weather conditions legal claims can help add additional parties to the lawsuit bringing higher limits of insurance coverage resulting in the case value rising to one million dollars or more.
- It can help sway an insurance adjuster or jury to pay a much larger settlement.
You can reach Bull Attorneys at 316-684-4400 for our three offices in Wichita, Kansas or you can call 620-843-2855 for our office in Garden City, Kansas for a free consultation 24/7. You can always talk to a live trucking accident attorney, even at night and on weekends and holidays. There is never any fee unless we win your case.