Medical issue may have caused driver to crash truck into home

The people inside a home say received a rude awakening Wednesday night.

What they heard was a truck crashing into their house, shattering siding and drywall on the home.
The people who live in the home, Jarret Petrie and his girlfriend, said the driver got out of the truck, seemed out of sorts and told them he'd fallen asleep at the wheel. However, police say the driver may have had a medical issue, blacked out and missed a curve in the road -- going straight into Petrie's bedroom.

The vehicle the driver was in control of was a big, red Ford Ranger. Much of its hood was inside the wall and the large front tire was even knocked off. From inside the house, the damage is clear -- insulation was all over the place and furniture was smashed.
Petrie and his girlfriend were sitting on the couch inside when they heard an explosion.

"It pushed me and my girlfriend five feet forward in the room and felt like it was gonna come right through," he said. "I saw lights right behind me."

Source: http://milwaukie.katu.com/news/home-garden/medical-issue-may-have-caused-driver-crash-truck-milwaukie-home/441998

Georgia Trucking News: CSA 2010 Delayed

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CSA 2010 was to originally start this summer, but trucking companies have realized that it will be tougher to circumvent the new rules and have asked for more time. Surprisingly, the FMCSA agreed. The trucking industry continues to try to water down the new regulations to continue "business as normal."

The new schedule calls for a so-called “data preview” to run through November 30, 2010 at which time FMCSA will begin issuing warning letters and using CSA 2010 scores to target fleets for compliance reviews and extra roadside enforcement. Full, nationwide implementation of all of CSA 2010's new enforcement tools will not begin until 2011.

The public will not be able to view the Crash Indicator scores in November because of concerns about the quality of the underlying crash data. As I understand the concerns some states don't report all the information that they should, making the crash data LOWER than it should be if all the crashes were reported. While this may make the data imperfect, it can certainly be used to find and get off the road unsafe trucking companies. If the imperfect data shows the companies are bad, the real data would show they are WORSE!

Kentucky Trucking Accident: Trucking Company "Deficient"

The trucking company involved in a crash that killed 11 people in Kentucky in March was rated “deficient” by regulators, repeatedly failing inspections. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gave the company, Hester Inc. of Fayette, Ala., a rating of 88.4 — with 100 the worst score — in February. The Hester driver crossed a median, killing himself and 10 members of a Mennonite family traveling to a wedding.

Source here.

Georgia Trucking Lawyers and Georgia Truck Accidents: Q and A

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Some concerns answered:

Do large trucks have high crash rates?

On average, drivers of large trucks travel many more miles than passenger vehicle drivers. In 2007, large trucks accounted for 4 percent of registered vehicles and 7 percent of miles traveled. Per unit of travel, large trucks are involved in more fatal crashes than passenger vehicles – 1.9 compared with 1.6 crashes per 100 million miles traveled in 2006.

The disparities between large trucks and passenger vehicles vary by specific vehicle type, with cars having the lowest fatal crash rate (1.3) and tractor-trailers having the highest rate (2.2). The higher fatal crash rate for large trucks occurs although much higher proportions of their miles are traveled on interstate highways, which are the safest roads. The higher fatal crash rate is attributable to the size disparity between large trucks and passenger vehicles. Large trucks have a much lower rate per mile traveled of nonfatal crashes resulting in injuries or property damage only compared with passenger cars and light trucks.




Source here

Florida Truck Accident?

Trucks on Florida highways may not drive in convoys and may not come closer than 300 feet to another vehicle unless the trucks are passing. A truck more than 12 feet wide must be accompanied by another vehicle to "escort" it. These big trucks must also have a clearly visible banner that says "oversized load."

Trucks may not exceed 13 feet and 6 inches in height or 75 feet in length. The maximum legal weight limit for trucks is 40 tons. Trucks are allowed a certain degree of "overhang," but this amount cannot exceed 3 feet in front or 4 feet in the rear. Florida also imposes time restrictions on when a truck can drive, and truckers must also obey posted signage. For instance, during road construction, the state may post stricter regulations on truck height than standard.g