As American industries evolve, so do the laws regulating how they operate. When new variables come into play, the agencies responsible for regulating affected industries must enact new policies to account for these variables. The commercial trucking industry, though, appears to be backsliding when it comes to safety, and there doesn’t seem to be anything happening to address this issue on a national level. Safety statistics in other industries generally improve year after year, but this is not the case for commercial trucking.
Despite countless technological and navigational advances in recent years, data collected from various government agencies and private organizations indicates that commercial trucking safety has shown very little improvement over the last ten years. Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) includes accident statistics for past years, and there hasn’t been any considerable improvement in quite a long time:
- In 2016, there were a total of 3,986 fatalities in large truck accidents. Ten years prior in 2006, there were 4,886 fatalities. In 1996, there were 5,048 fatalities.
- In 2015, there were 3,876 fatalities compared with 5,049 in 2005. In 1995, there were 4,834 fatalities.
- In 2014, there were 3,663 fatalities compared with 5,099 in 2004. In 1994, there were 5,069 fatalities.
- In 2013, there were 3,616 fatalities compared with 4,905 in 2003. In 1993, there were 4,778 fatalities.
These statistics may appear to show improvement, but there is far too little progress considering all of the advances made in automotive, navigational, and safety technologies in recent years.
What Can Improve These Statistics?
The new Hours of Service requirement for drivers is one of the notable changes FMCSA enacted to curb this trend. The Hours of Service rules limit the amount of time a driver can remain behind the wheel on any given day or week to ensure every driver receives proper rest and breaks from the stresses of driving for extended periods of time. Prior to these rules, drivers would often push themselves too far for too long to meet strict deadlines and make as much money as possible for hours driven.
Many truck drivers oppose the Hours of Service requirements because they feel it limits how much they can earn in a given week. Some suggest this change may be part of the reason new truck drivers are in limited supply. If FMCSA restricts hours for work, then wages will be lower, attracting fewer new drivers to the industry. In response to this, trucking companies across the country are raising average truck driver wages to attract new drivers to the industry and fill the void of about 55,000 open positions that industry leaders currently face.
New Technologies Are Changing the Trucking Industry
A few notable new technologies are going to drastically change the landscape of the trucking industry, and some have already found footing. Automation, or the process of making certain processes automatic via digital programming, is already playing a large role in the trucking industry in terms of performance tracking, time reporting, and logistics management. Some analysts suspect automation could replace human drivers within a few decades, and advancements in self-driving car technology lend credence to this theory.
Modern vehicles are also safer than past generations’ cars. About 97% of all truck accident fatalities are occupants of passenger vehicles involved in such crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. We hope to see fewer fatalities as vehicle safety features improve. As far as truck driver safety is concerned, FMCSA consistently reviews its regulations to look for new ways to improve driver safety. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there has been much success on this front.
If you were recently involved in a commercial trucking accident, contact Ben Bronston and his team of Houston personal injury lawyers for help. Getting in a truck accident can change your life and your livelihood. Let one of our attorneys fight for the compensation that you deserve for your injuries.
