Between January 1, 2018 and September 30, 2018, approximately 120,000 crashes occurred in this country involving large trucks. 3,370 of those crashes involved fatalities. When you add in buses, those numbers increase to 132,116 crashes with 3,535 fatalities. In the full calendar year of 2017 large trucks were involved in 154,109 crashes with 4,789 fatalities.
Large trucks, defined as trucks weighing in excess of 10,000 lbs, are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) which was established by Congress in 2000. The FMCSA oversees compliance with the commercial driver’s license standards for drivers and carriers. It also provides regulations that govern the operation of a large truck, including without limitation, the Hours of Service Regulations (HOS) which limit the number of hours drivers can operate this dangerous equipment.
The laws governing a company’s operation of large trucks are generally found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act, which is found in 49 CFR Section 390. Knowledge of and experience with these regulations and the experts who interpret them is critical to the evaluation and handling of these cases. These cases are much more complex than they appear to be. Thus, your attorney needs to be experienced and knowledgeable in this difficult area of litigation.
At the Cochran Firm New Orleans, our attorneys have extensive experience handling these cases. We utilize the top trucking experts in the field as a resource to assist with and consult on these cases. And our results in these cases speak for themselves with millions of dollars recovered on behalf of our clients in verdicts and settlements.
Let us use our proven record of success in these cases to help you recover for your injuries in an accident involving a large truck.