Truck Accident Lawyer
In 2017, coal trucks, tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks in Pennsylvania were involved in 6,807 crashes and took 145 lives. The area around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania sees an especially high amount of semi-truck traffic, with interstates 80, 81, 84, 380 and 476 creating a maze of arteries carrying cargo across the country. While 18-wheeler crashes occur less frequently than automobile accidents, the potential devastation of being in a collision with a big rig is far greater. At 80,000 pounds, a fully-loaded tractor-trailer is more than ten times heavier than a passenger vehicle. An accident at highway speeds can cause catastrophic injury or wrongful death to the occupants of the smaller, lighter car.
Trucking accidents are frequently the fault of truck driver error or failures of trucking companies to maintain their fleets in safe working order. Trucking companies and their insurers have lots of resources to spend defending truck accident claims. You need a lawyer on your side with the skills and resources to go up against them and not give up. Truck accident lawyer Keith Figured is a smart, strong, effective attorney who gets results. The Figured Law Firm has recovered millions on behalf of injury victims. Odds are we can help you too.
Truck Driver Drowsy Driving and Other Errors
Fatigued driving is a danger for anyone behind the wheel. For a driver in command of 40 tons of machinery and cargo, drowsy driving is a matter of life and death for the driver and the many others with whom they share the road. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) puts limits on how long truckers can be on duty and behind the wheel before taking a break or significant time off, but drivers frequently flout these rules, even going so far as to fake their log books to hide their rule violations. FMCSA hours of service rules allow truckers to drive 11 hours a day and be on duty 14 hours a day. They can work 60 or 70 hours a week, and their “weeks” can be eight days long. Imagine how much time a trucker is putting in who violates these rules. Driving too long or sleeping too little is dangerous, and there is no substitute for rest to restore alertness over a prolonged period of time.
Annual roadside inspections conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance routinely pull thousands of trucks from service due to issues with their tires, brakes and other equipment. Semi-trucks need extra time and distance to come to a stop or respond to a change in traffic conditions, but tractor-trailers as a whole have far greater tire and brake issues than passenger vehicles as a group. The leading vehicle defects identified in Pennsylvania truck crashes include:
- Tires/Wheels
- Brakes
- Power Train Failure
- Unsecured or Overloaded Trailer
- Total Steering System Failure
- Suspension
Trucking companies can and should be held liable for allowing these defective vehicles on the road. Proving the cause of a truck accident takes extensive investigation and a thorough understanding of truck accidents that can only be gained by experience. Attorney Keith Figured has over a decade of experience helping personal injury victims hold at-fault parties fully accountable for the damages they have caused.
Contact Our Experienced Lawyers Today
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre or northeastern Pennsylvania, call the Figured Law Firm at 570-954-9299 for a free consultation with a skilled and effective truck accident lawyer.
