If you have very driven on the busy highways within Houston, you have probably witness that the roads are swarming with semi-trucks. Unfortunately this often means that tuck crashes occur throughout the Houston area, you may have even witness one yourself. With the sheer size of these trucks, these accidents often mean serious collisions and injury for those involved, sometimes even death. Many of these truck accidents are the result of the driver being tired or fatigued on their long journeys. New regulations have recently been set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in order to reduce the number of accidents.
Truck drivers are generally paid by the size of their load or the distance they cover on a trip. This results in drivers pushing themselves to cover as much distance as possible. The new regulations mandate that drivers must take a minimum of 30 minutes break within their first 8 hours. They must also have a minimum of 34 hours off each week. Drivers are not supposed to drive more than 70 hours in a week. Much research has been done and shows that when drivers experience fatigue and drowsiness, their alertness and reflexes are not up to regulatory rules. The FMCSA has estimated that at least 19 lives will be saved with these new regulations.
Just like most people, there will always be those that disobey the rules, there is legal action that can be taken if you are involved in an accident. Your local attorney can explain it in detail, but in short you will be able to receive the necessary compensation.