Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

More and more states are joining the fight against distracted driving by making texting while driving illegal for all drivers including truck drivers in order to try to reduce the number of automobile accidents. At this point 28 states, plus Washington DC, all have anti-texting laws for all drivers on their books. As many as 32 states have included a distracted driving section in their driver license education manuals, showing that even more states realize the importance of educating drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. According to Trucking Info's website, 35 states are working with state agencies and other companies within the state to help address the problem of distracted driving and to try and reduce the number of car and trucking accidents that occur as a result of this problem. For example, the state of Illinois has created the Distracted Drivers Task Force which was created in order to learn more about the growing issue of distracted driving and to try to find a solution to this problem. To read more about the efforts that different states are making to try to make a difference in the number of trucking accidents that occur each year by addressing the distracted driving accident problem, please click on this link.

Distracted driving does not only mean texting while driving but also any other form of using a cell phone, eating or drinking, talking to other passengers, reading a map, changing the radio, or doing anything else that takes your eyes and focus off of the road while you are driving. According to the government's statistics on driver distraction close to 6,000 people were killed in accidents caused by distracted drivers in 2008, with the percentage rising significantly from several years before, and the most common driver in these types of accidents were inexperienced drivers under the age of twenty years old. Illinois accident attorneys hope all drivers realize the prevalence of this problem and take it upon themselves to always pay attention to the road and not allow distractions while driving, so everyone gets where they are going safely!

The truck involved in a tragic trucking accident that occurred in March of this year and resulted in the death of the driver and of 10 other people was found to have had no electronic recorder on board at the time the tragic trucking accident occurred. According to The Courier Journal, the reason this is significant is because these recorders are a way of determining how long a driver was on the road, letting investigators know if a violation occurred. This driver kept a handwritten log which was unfortunately destroyed in the fatal accident. To read more about this tragic trucking accident, please click on this link. Electronic recorders are not required but there is a big push for them to help regulate and control truck and driver safety, because they create a better way to ensure that drivers do not go over the required amount of hours that the law sets out as safe. According to Trucking Info, a new requirement was just recently enacted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Commission which will require that trucking companies who have been found to be in violation of the hour requirement at least ten percent of the time will be required to install electronic monitoring systems. Chicago accident attorneys remind trucking companies that this law will not go into effect until June 1, 2012 allowing the nearly 5,700 trucking companies that are affected to comply with this new law. The goal behind this new law is to increase safety by making it much more difficult for trucking companies that may lie about or be unclear about their driver’s hours to do this. An electronic recording system, as opposed to a handwritten system is much more precise and does not leave room for driver or trucking companies to change their actual hours.

While the trucking industry has been working hard at improving safety standards and reducing trucking accidents, many in the industry admit that there is still a lot that can be done to further increase trucking safety. According to ETrucker’s website, the American Trucking Association further states that the most important things to remember and keep in mind when working on trucking safety programs is to deal with the risk of trucking accidents and with the causation of trucking crashes. While any safety precautions are clearly better than nothing, the trucking association considers dealing with risk and causation as the only real ways that the trucking industry will be able to continue getting safer. In terms of risk, the new federal rules that establish a limit of how much time truck drivers can be on the road are aimed to help with this problem, as well as the suggestion by the trucking association that the maximum speed limit be reduced to 65 miles per hour. In terms of changes affecting the causation problem, the trucking association recommends holding individual drivers accountable for accidents they are involved in. Right now, individual drivers are not always held individually accountable for accidents and often times the trucking company alone is held liable. The idea behind the causation safety initiative is that by holding drivers accountable, there will be more incentive for drivers to be safer and that will increase the overall safety of the trucking industry. To read more about the American Trucking Association’s recommendations for reducing trucking accidents, please click on this hyperlink.

The recent federal proposal to make it illegal for truckers to text message while driving has stirred up a lot of issues and opinions on both sides of the argument. On one side people in opposition to the possible ban argue that truckers save time and money on long cross country trips by being able to communicate quickly with dispatchers. According to New York Times Blogs, many trucks are equipped with onboard touch screen computers which function very similarly to text messaging on a cell phone and which have cost the trucking industry a great deal of money to install and put into use. Advocates of the potential ban acknowledge the slight positive, but feel the overall danger and risk of trucking accidents caused by texting while driving is so great that this ban is exactly what is needed to increase safety on the roads. At this stage both sides of the argument are being heard and further research is being conducted to determine if this ban should go into effect. To read more about the pros of banning texting for truckers in order to avoid trucking accidents and the cons of drivers not being able to use the onboard computers, please click on the link.

Illinois has recently enacted a statewide ban on text messaging while driving. Many states have taken the texting problem on and found a solution on their own, instead of waiting to hear if the federal government places a ban on the action. Driver distraction is a huge problem and many car and trucking crashes each year are caused by this avoidable issue, and often times it is found to be the result of texting while driving. Illinois chose to ban all texting while driving, including truckers. The Illinois legislature decided that any benefits to being able to text while driving, even for truckers, was greatly outweighed by the danger that was caused and that the practice must be banned in the state completely. To read more about how Illinois chose to combat traffic accidents caused by distracted drivers, please click on this link.

There are many types of violations that Illinois drivers receive after being involved in a car or a trucking accident. If drivers familiarize themselves with Illinois traffic laws, hopefully the number of Illinois accidents would be reduced. Most drivers are aware of certain violations such as driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and leaving the scene of an accident (hit-and-run).

However, there are many actions that drivers may not realize are in violation of Illinois law, but that can also cause car or trucking accidents or lead to citations. Examples of these types of less commonly known laws are things such as driving without insurance or registration, driving without a seat belt on, and driving with certain types of vehicle modifications found to be unsafe. In order to become familiar with all Illinois driving laws and what every Illinois driver should know before driving, please click on this link.

Aside from these driving laws, there are certain truck-specific laws as well. All Illinois truck drivers are responsible for following these laws, ranging from safe vehicle operations to the transport of hazardous materials, and are subject to citation if these rules are not followed. For a complete set of Illinois trucking laws, please click on the link.

If you have been injured in a car or trucking accident in Illinois, our trucking accident attorneys may be able to help you seek compensation. Follow this link to contact an Illinois accident attorney.

Certain laws will go into effect on January 1st that will affect trucking drivers in Illinois. A law banning texting while driving was approved and will go into effect at the start of the new year. Additionally, trucking drivers can be cited for not talking on hands-free devices if they are in a school or construction zone, and other fines have been raised for citations that occur in school zones. An Illinois law is also going into effect raising the speed limit for truckers from 55 to 65 miles per hour because many believe that if the entire flow of traffic is going at the same speed there will be less trucking accidents. Several fees, such as registration and license plates, will also go up at the beginning of the new year. To read more about these new laws going into effect affecting Illinois truck drivers, please click on this link.

According to Effingham Daily News, the recent adjustment in speed limit for truck drivers has some people unsure. The new law is scheduled to go into effect on January 1st and will raise the trucking speed limit to 65 miles per hour. Advocates of the higher speed limit say that this will allow truckers to go along with the flow of traffic more safely and that there is no evidence that the increased speed will lead to more or more severe trucking accidents. However, opponents of the bill argue that higher speeds will inevitably make it harder for trucks to stop and will make them hit things harder when crashing. For more information on this trucking bill, click here.

A new Illinois law will raise the speed limit for truckers from 55 to 65 starting at the beginning of the new year. The bill has been in the air for years and just now was passed. According to WSIL TV, many truckers are excited about the increase in speed limit because of the time it takes to cross the state at the lower speed limit. Proponents of the new law claim that the higher speed limit should actually make truck driving safer and lead to fewer trucking accidents because the trucks can now drive more at the speed of other traffic. To read more about this new Illinois trucking law, please click on the hyperlink.

A rule in which truck drivers are allowed to drive up to 11 hours straight is being reconsidered, in response to the outcry by safety advocates who worry that this extended length of driving time may be the cause of many trucking accidents. The rule is relatively recent and added an hour of driving time to what was previously the maximum, as well as cut down on the minimum rest time at the end of each week. According to Google, the Transportation Department has agreed to try and develop a rule that maximizes safety. For more information on where the current rule stands and what the proposed changed for the rule to try and minimize trucking accidents, click here.