Posted On: November 25, 2009

Negligent Navigation System Use Can Lead to Traffic Accidents

The Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article that serves as an excellent reminder to use caution when operating your in-car navigation systems. While they can be very helpful, navigation systems can also be a huge distraction and often cause accidents (and lawsuits) when drivers are tinkering with them and not paying attention to the road.

The companies that make navigation systems are well aware of the dangers that interacting with them while driving can pose, and most navigation systems have a disclaimer that makes the user agree that they will not be actively interacting with the system while in motion. One obvious danger posed by such systems is that drivers who are using a hand to adjust something on the system do not have two hands with which to control the automobile if necessary.

Another danger is that some drivers choose to rely on their navigation system rather than common sense. They often assume the navigation system will warn them of every detail of the road.

However, possibly the greatest risk of navigation systems is that if you're looking at it, you're not looking at the road. This is good for everyone to remember, especially during the holiday season when so many people are on the road.

Posted On: November 22, 2009

New Trucking Regulations

The Indiana Injury Law Blog has posted an article that discusses a new regulation that would require truckers to drive for less than eleven consecutive hours, the current time limit.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working to produce an official plan to reduce the number of hours truckers can drive, but likely won't have results for around nine months. Previously, truckers were limited to ten hours of driving time per day, so it would seem likely the FMCSA would revert back to that.

At first it may not seem that a single hour can make a significant difference, but trucker fatigue accounts for a large number of traffic accidents.

Every year, thousands of truck accidents can be traced to tired, drowsy truckers, fatigued from too many hours spent on the job...Dealing with trucker fatigue is an important part of reducing accident fatality rates, and setting lower maximum working hours for truckers is an important part of those efforts.

An eleven hour day would certainly make sense from an economic standpoint, but the pressure truckers are under to make timed deliveries combined with fatigue can often lead to serious accidents.

Profits for the trucking industry must not be allowed to take precedence over the safety of motorists and truck drivers.