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Wrecks Continue Despite Trucker Texting Ban

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Texting while driving is illegal in 46 U.S. states. However, if you are a trucker it’s illegal wherever you drive. Federal laws ban trucker texting on a hand-held device. Calls are also banned.

This has not stopped some truckers from blatantly flouting the law. A recent Channel 9 investigation in and around Charlotte in North Carolina found many truckers were texting and using hand-held phones on the road.

If you are behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer, the consequences of a lapse in concentration can be very serious.

trucker texting causes wrecks

In 2014, two lawsuits were filed against a trucking company and a driver after a crash that claimed the lives of four college students on a bus in Oklahoma. The trucker was accused of distracted driving due to texting. A trucker was also accused of texting before a crash in 2015 that caused the deaths of five Georgia Southern University nursing students.

A year earlier, almost 16,000 truckers were ticketed for texting and driving.  Just four of them had their license suspended and were taken off the road.

In other words, a lot of truckers are not taking that federal ban on cell phones very seriously. That’s terrible news for other drivers and passengers.

Trucker Texting is Linked to Numerous Wrecks

Trucker texting is a real threat to other road users. The sheer size and weight of a big rig mean these types of wrecks are usually the most serious we see on the highways of America.

The Federal Motor Carry Safety Administration (FMSCA) states commercial drivers who text while driving are 23.2 times more likely to be in a wreck than other truckers.

Texting is defined as manually entering information into any electronic device.  It includes writing emails or accessing a webpage or a social media site.

CMV drivers who use a mobile device while driving are only allowed to operate a hands-free phone located in close proximity. The FMSCA rule prevents drivers from unsafely reaching for a device, holding a mobile phone, or pressing lot of buttons.

Violation of the rule carries civil penalties up to $2,750 and driver disqualification for repeat offenses. Trucking companies and other carriers are also prohibited from requiring or allowing their drivers to use any hand-held device or text while driving and may be subject to civil penalties up to $11,000.

Trucker texting is a major problem. If you are injured by a commercial driver who is texting or if you have lost a loved one, please call our Virginia trucking wreck lawyers at (757) 455-0077.

John Cooper

Texas College Mourns After Truck Kills Four Students in Oklahoma

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Tractor trailer accidents can be tragic but few this year have been as horrifying as a crash that killed four student athletes from North Central Texas College, in Oklahoma last month.

The Associated Press reported on how the North Central Texas College athletic bus for the women’s softball team was returning from a scrimmage when a tractor-trailer veered into oncoming traffic and broadsided the bus. The horrific crash killed four of the players, and left several others with serious injuries. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved in this terrible crash.

The reason for the 18-wheeler’s sudden movement across the median into the other lanes of traffic is unclear, but investigators say that it will be further analyzed as if it were a homicide. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Ronnie Hampton stated: “Something happened to cause (the truck) to depart the roadway and impact the other vehicle.”

There are a number of causes of serious tractor-trailer crashes, ranging from driver fatigue to inattention, medical conditions or a mechanical failure on a truck or improper loading. In cases like this, the families of victims often have grounds to bring wrongful death lawsuits against trucking drivers and other defendants as well as the truck driver. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers has written The Best Book About Virginia Trucking Accidents which deals with questions such as who is liable in a trucking accident with injuries or fatalities. Call us at 757.455.0077 for a free copy.

Mother of Three Killed in Dump Truck Accident

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By Jim Hurley, Virginia Trucking Injury Lawyer

Dump trucks are among the most dangerous of commercial vehicles, a fact illustrated by a recent accident in Virginia.

According to The Washington Post, Jennifer Lawson, 39, was killed when a dump truck struck her minivan as she was loading her kids inside of it. The dump truck’s step hit the minivan’s sliding back door in such a way that it caused the door to fatally injure Lawson. Later at Inova Fairfax Hospital, the mother of three children succumbed to her injuries.

Police investigated the incident finding that the driver of the dump truck was travelling too far to the right when the collision happened. He was later found guilty of “failure to maintain full time and attention driving.”

Dump trucks and vehicles of the sort, such as garbage trucks, are often pose dangers to drivers on the roadways. The drivers of these commercial trucks are often focused on the tasks at hand, such as collecting the garbage cans, or getting to the job site in time, and that often leads to terrible accidents much like the one in northern Virginia. One of the reasons that garbage trucks and dump trucks are so dangerous is because they are so heavy. The trucks carry a huge amount of momentum, so any impact whether it be slow or fast, will result in lots of damage and usually injuries. Be careful when driving around these heavy work vehicles.

If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of a dump truck or garbage truck driver, find the proper medical help, and then contact a trusted Virginia trucking injury lawyer. Call the Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757-455-0077, or visit us online at www.CooperHurley.com. When it really counts, count on Cooper Hurley!

Distracted Truckers Are Targeted in New Kent, VA for Cellphone Use

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By Jim Hurley, Virginia Trucking Accident Lawyer

In a new blog on the Virginia Personal Injuries Attorneys site, my colleague John Cooper writes about how a new ban on cellphones and other hand held devices is being enforced in New Kent, VA.

The Virginia Beach. Norfolk and Hampton, VA truck accident injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as other cases such as slip and fall cases, wrongful death and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling truck injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010.
Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA. Our motto is “Your Injury, Our Fight.” If you need help or advice about a serious injury caused by a big rig, please call us at 866-455-6657 or contact us through this website.

Virginia Truck Accident Injury Lawyer Report – Cellphone Use is Banned for Truck Drivers

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By John Cooper, Virginia Beach Trucking Accident Injury Lawyer

Texting while driving is illegal under Virginia law and some legislators have called for a complete ban on hand held phones while driving.

What’s less well known is that all drivers of commercial vehicles have been subject to a national ban on the use of hand held phones from the start of the year.

See this video about distracted truck driving.

As electronic devices have become more sophisticated distracted driving has grown as a threat on the roads of Virginia and elsewhere.

The Department of Transportation (DOT), brought the issue of distracted driving to the attention of regulators at the first National Distracted Driving Summit hosted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in Washington, D.C. in September 2009.

President Obama later signed an executive order that prohibited federal employees from texting while driving government vehicles. The law covers conversations but does not include using a cellphone for GPS purposes.

Legislation preventing commercial truck and bus drivers from using cell phones was published on December 2, 2011 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the legislation came into effect on January 3, 2012.

As an experienced Virginia truck accident injury attorney, I welcome these moves. Truck drivers cover considerable distances and often suffer from fatigue. The added distraction of a cell phone, provides a further danger to other road users.

There is a considerable weight of evidence about the dangers of cellphone use that goes beyond texting. A 2006 study by the University of Utah suggested the use of a cellphone, is as dangerous as driving drunk.

I expect to see further restrictions on the use of cellphones while driving brought forward over the next few years.

The Virginia Beach and Norfolk based truck accident injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as other cases such as slip and fall cases, wrongful death and medical malpractice.  John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling truck injury accident claims.  Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010.

Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury caused by a big rig, please call us at 866-455-6657 or contact us through this website.