Ohio fans of the television show 30 Rock may have been keeping up with the news surrounding comedian Tracy Morgan’s recovery from the serious truck accident he was involved in more than a year ago. In the accident in 2014, a Walmart tractor trailer collided into the limo bus Morgan was in, injuring him severely and killing the fellow comedian in his car. At the time, the truck driver had not slept in 28 hours and had driven more than 800 miles recently. And surprisingly, though the National Transportation Safety Board blames driver fatigue for the crash, this was not against regulations.
Commercial transportation is a 24/7 business, but humans are not. Though this may seem like a simple fact, the safety board has identified getting drivers most rest as one of the 10 most wanted safety improvements of 2016. Though there is a proposed bill for revising hours of service for truckers in front of the government, the rules were suspended again last year.
Though all accidents are dangerous, truck accidents are often more dangerous than other crashes because of the disparity in the size of the vehicles involved. In addition to this, as trucks are often transporting material from one location to another, it is also possible that the material escape from the truck and cause additional damage.
Though it is not possible to quantify the loss someone goes through when they lose someone in a fatal truck accident, they may be able to hold the truck driver accountable for their negligent behavior. It may also be possible to hold the trucking company accountable for failing to regulate their driver. In addition to receiving monetary compensation that may ease the financial burden of losing someone, it may also highlight an issue that needs to receive more attention.
Source: nj.com, “Tracy Morgan crash elevated driver fatigue as problem nationally,” Jonathon Salant, Jan. 13, 2016
