Idaho Law Blog
One of the reasons truck accidents happen is because of truck driver fatigue. Truck driving entails long, monotonous drives, weekly completion of working hours, and the ever present pressure to get loads to docks. It is little wonder that most drivers experience chronic fatigue, increasing their chances of getting involved in crashes. Previous safety regulations imposed by the federal government on trucking companies often do not help, the pressure to perform is just too great, which is why such devastating accidents continue to happen.
Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), implemented a new set of federal regulations that should not only reduce fatigue, but also improve safety for motorists
After the FMCSA’s announcement, trucking companies were given 18 months to adopt the changes in the hours-of-service rules for truck drivers. In the new set of rules, truck driver’s hours were reduced from the previous 82 hours per week to 70 hours. Once a driver has reached the average maximum hours of driving within a week, they can resume their duties on the next workweek only if they rest for 34 consecutive hours, including at least two nights when their body clock demands sleep the most–from1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Finally, truck drivers are now required to take a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a shift.
Legal experts are generally satisfied with the new changes with regard to the working hours of truck drivers. They believe that this development will lessen incidents of truck collisions, as well as lower the number of terrible injuries and or deaths because of these mishaps.