Kansas City Injury Lawyer Blog

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration handed a Christmas gift to trucking safety groups and Kansas City accident lawyers. It issued a regulatory proposal that would reduce the Hours of Service rule requirements for all commercial truck drivers. The proposal also includes more numbers of rest breaks, and as a Kansas City truck accident attorney, I believe that in the long run, the reduced work hours will minimize the number of fatigue-related accidents.

The proposal would require that all commercial truck drivers finish their driving within a 14-hour work window. The proposal would also require that the truck driver complete all on-duty activities within a 13-hour window. The FMCSA has invited public comment on a provision in the proposals that would reduce from 11 hours to 10 hours the amount of daily drive time that a truck driver spends behind the wheel.

It should be no surprise to any Kansas City truck accident lawyer that the American Trucking Associations is opposed to the new FMCSA proposal to reduce work-hour rules for truck drivers. According to the association, the new rules would significantly impact trucker efficiency and productivity.

A limitation on the number of hours that a truck driver can drive consecutively, is a step towards ridding the highways of fatigued and drowsy drivers. The impact of drowsy driving has been in the headlines recently, after a study found that one out of six fatal accidents in the US involves a drowsy driver.

As any Kansas City injury lawyer will tell you, driving in winter is a much greater challenge than driving at any other time of the year. That has been plain to see this winter season as icy weather combined with misty rain created hazardous driving conditions, and contributed to dozens of accidents on Missouri highways.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, there were several accidents attributed to poor weather conditions over the past week. That included several multi-vehicle accidents that resulted in minor to moderate injuries. The weather was so bad, the National Weather Service was forced to issue a winter weather advisory in effect until December 15th. According to the advisory, light precipitation contributed to the development of a thin film of ice on the roads, making these roads extremely slippery and treacherous.

We can expect the weather to stay the same, or get even worse as winter progresses. Accident risks are greater at this time of the year. There are more drivers on the road during the holiday season. Plenty of cars jostle for space on roads that are made even more slippery by a thin film of ice. These are conditions that increase the possibility of an accident.

As a highway safety attorney, I would advise motorists to drive extra careful this winter. If the weather becomes too poor to travel in, only venture out if it is an emergency. Avoid nonessential travel. If you are forced to travel, lower speeds, and maintain plenty of space between your vehicle and the car in front of you. In order to avoid speeding, start early with plenty of time to reach your destination.

Also, make sure to keep your car in good repair and pack emergency supplies. The best advice is to slow down, be patient, and keep a safe following distance.

Kansas City truck accident lawyers who had been very encouraged about the Department of Transportation's ban on text messaging while driving for commercial truck and bus drivers earlier this year, have more reason to celebrate. The Department of Transportation has now proposed a complete ban on hand-held cell phone use for commercial truck and bus drivers.

Several media outlets this week are reporting on what is likely to be an early holiday gift to Kansas City's injury lawyers. The legislation is proposing banning commercial truck and bus drivers from using their cell phones while driving. The proposal would prevent drivers from reaching for, holding or dialing a phone while at the wheel. It's not just drivers who would be held accountable for any violations of the ban. Trucking companies and commercial bus companies who employ these drivers, will also be held accountable for any violations. Multiple violations of the cell phone ban could result in a commercial truck or bus driver losing his license.

According to the federal administration, in 2009, approximately 5,500 accident fatalities were linked to distracted driving. According to the government, there are approximately 4 million buses and trucks in the country whose drivers will immediately be affected by the hand-held cell phone ban. The hand-held cell phone ban comes on the heels of a text messaging ban announced earlier this year.

Obviously as a Kansas City truck accident attorney, I would prefer that commercial truck and bus drivers not operate any kind of electronic communication devices while driving, including hands-free sets. There is enough evidence to indicate that the distractions from cell phone use come not from the use of hands to hold the phone, but the actual conversation that you are having with the other person. However, bans on text messaging and hand-held cell phone use by commercial truck and bus drivers is definitely a great place to start.

Our law firm regularly handles injury cases caused by drunk drivers. In a recent blog posting regarding Missouri 's new DUI law, we advised in Missouri 280 people were killed and 1,140 were seriously injured by drunk drivers in 2009. Now there is new evidence showing the breadth of the drunk driving.

A survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that as many as 30 million people could be driving under the influence of alcohol in any given year. Additionally, an estimated 10 million people could be driving under the influence of drugs.

The study clearly indicates that intoxicated driving, whether it's related to alcohol or illegal drugs, continues to be a serious problem. That is in spite of the fact that there have been great strides made in reducing the number of people killed every year in such accidents.

According to the survey, in the state of Missouri , between 14.7% and 16.9% of motorists in a given year were driving under the influence of alcohol. Missouri had a drunk driver rate of 18.6% between 2002 and 2005, and a rate of 14.8% between 2006 and 2009. Further, between 4.3% and 4.7% of motorists in any given year were driving under the influence of illegal drugs.

As Kansas City 's Injury Lawyer, I was encouraged to see that Missouri State Highway Patrol is taking extra-steps to curb drinking and driving over the holiday season. The numbers of intoxicated motorists in Missouri will increase between now and New Year's Eve. Kansas City's Injury Lawyer and anti-drunk driving groups like Mothers against Drunk Driving have been encouraged by the falling numbers of people killed in drunk driving accidents every year. However, as the study shows, more has to be done. This holiday season; avoid driving under the influence at all costs. Make other arrangements, call a cab, and arrange to sleep over at the party venue, or take public transportation.

According to a new report by the NHTSA and the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, there has been a spike in the number of accident fatalities in the US linked to drugged driving or driving under the influence of drugs.

The researchers looked at the number of fatalities in 2009, and found that a whopping 33% of the fatalities had some traces of drugs in their system at the time of the accident. There was actually an increase of 5% in the number of such drugged driving fatalities over the past few years. Interestingly enough, the increase in fatalities linked to drugged driving coincided with a decline in the number of overall accident fatalities in the country.

Drugged driving has been an underestimated issue, but has emerged as a serious safety threat over the past few years. The risks from persons driving under the influence of narcotics, like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines are well-documented. However, it is the number of people driving under the influence of prescription drugs that is of serious concern to Kansas City car accident lawyers.

Many adult Americans, and almost all elderly motorists, are on at least one medication, and many are on more than one medication. Combining drugs can cause not just known side effects like drowsiness and fatigue, but also less obvious ones like disorientation, confusion and blurred vision. Some of these side effects may not even be obvious to your doctor. These can severely increase your risk of an accident.

What makes it worse is that federal transportation agencies have failed to recognize the magnitude and scope of this problem. We have no strong policies in place to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence of certain medications, and preventing people from doing so.

A poll conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety confirms a few facts for Kansas City crash lawyers. According to the poll, which included 2000 motorists, most American drivers are very aware that engaging in practices like cell phone use while driving, speeding and running red lights is dangerous, but they continue to do so anyway.

The report has been published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and provides a fascinating glimpse into the disconnect that exists between awareness of traffic safety hazards and actual driving conduct. For instance, about 92% of the respondents in the survey were on board about the accident risks from cell phone use while driving. They were aware that this increases the risk of an accident, but that didn't stop approximately 24% of them from talking on the cell phone while driving at least once over the past 30 days.

A similar disconnect was seen in other traffic safety areas too.

• When it came to speeding, two thirds of all respondents in the survey said that driving 15 miles above the posted speed limit was dangerous, but 46% reported doing so over the past 30 days.


• 93% of the drivers believed that running red lights is dangerous, but one third admitted that they had done so.


• When it came to drowsy driving or driving while sleepy, an overwhelming majority of the respondents - more than 98% - believed that it was highly dangerous to be driving in a fatigued state. However, 25% admitted that they had driven while they were too sleepy to do so.


• 96% of the respondents found it unacceptable not to use a seat belt, but about one in every four drivers admitted that they had driven without a safety belt over the past 30 days.


• Just about every respondent in the study found driving under the influence particularly reprehensible, but 14 % admitted they had driven in an intoxicated state over the past month.

As a Kansas City crash lawyer, it has become evident that in spite of legislation, education and awareness campaigns, much of highway safety depends on personal responsibility and a firm handle on the consequences of dangerous driving.