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Posted in Truck Accident Litigation Blog

Appeals court nullifies dangerous trucking regulations

August 6th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

When it comes to the use of our nation’s highways, there’s a war going on.  After more than three years, the latest battle has been won by those seeking to protect the driving public and reduce the number of people killed in accidents with big rigs, semi-trucks and other large commercial vehicles. 

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the latest battle in the war to block controversial federal regulations ended in victory for public safety groups in a Washington, D.C. appellate courtroom on July 24.  The regulations, promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, seek to extend the number of hours trucking companies can require their drivers be on the road.  Under the new regulations, permitted hours were increased from 60 to 77 hours in seven consecutive days, and from 70 to 88 hours in eight consecutive days.  In short, the new regulations allowed drivers to drive for 11 hours a day, every day, for more than a week straight. 

Until this latest ruling, the extended hour regulations were the law of the road, even though two previous appellate courts had condemned them and the agency for ignoring safety concerns.  In 2004, after the agency initially put out the new rules, safety groups sought to place an injunction on their applicability arguing that the agency hadn’t done enough to study the impact of the longer hours.  The appellate court agreed, and blocked the new rules. 

The 2004 Congress acted to block the Court’s order, leaving the rules in place while the agency performed studies looking into the impact of the longer hours. 

The studies’ results showed that there is an increased risk of trucking accidents within the extended hours.  Yet, despite those results, in 2005 the agency put out essentially the same rules.  This move brought criticism from a second appellate court, and renewed efforts by safety groups to get the rules declared unsafe for American motorists. 

Those efforts led to the July ruling in the D.C. Federal Court of Appeals, which once again criticized the agency for issuing trucking regulations that ran directly counter to the results of their own safety studies.  This ruling once again blocks the extended-hours rules.  The ruling will take effect in September if the agency is not successful in seeking a stay of the order.  As of the NYT article’s press date, the agency had not said whether it would appeal the decision. 

100 people die each week in truck-related accidents—a rate that is twice that of accidents involving only cars. 

The regulations also matter for those injured in truck accidents, or the families of those killed in trucking accidents, who subsequently seek to hold the trucking companies responsible for their losses.  In Missouri, trucking companies can be liable for punitive damages if they fail to monitor the hours of service of their employees, demand that their employees drive beyond their physical limits or operate on a scheduling system that fails to take into account driver fatigue. 

If plaintiffs are able to show that the negligent driver of a truck involved in a collision had driven beyond the hours of service permitted by the federal regulations, they can prove the driver and the trucking company were negligent per se.  Thus, if the federal agency can beat back this latest challenge to their new regulations, such a victory not only endangers the lives of those sharing America’s highways, but also could make it more difficult for those who suffer from the increased risk to receive justice. 

If you or someone you know has been injured in a truck-related accident, please contact Dawn Mefford toll free at 877-367-3108 or DMefford@simonpassanante.com

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