Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration statistics show that deaths and injuries from large commercial truck accidents take an annual $43 billion toll on the national economy. About 4,000 people nationwide perish each year in truck-related accidents, and another 70,000 or so suffer injuries. Here in Tennessee, the fatality rate averages about 140 each year. Shocking statistics like these emphasize the importance of raising truck safety awareness among the driving public.

If you have been injured or if someone close to you died in a commercial trucking accident caused by the negligence of the trucking company, the Nahon Firm can help you get the compensation that’s right for you. Our lawyers are well-versed with the many regulations that govern the trucking industry, and understand how to find violations. Despite the rules for hours-of-service, maintenance, load weights or alcohol testing, there are still irresponsible trucking companies causing serious traffic accidents. Pressured by a tough economy and low freight rates, some carriers have to cut corners on maintenance to keep their trucks loaded and moving. But when those trucks are past inspection or rolling on worn out tires, the risk of accident and injury increases significantly.

With the weight and size difference between large trucks and passenger cars, it’s no surprise that those in the smaller vehicle are usually hurt the worst in a crash. Of those who survive a commercial truck accident, many suffer debilitating injuries that take months or even years to heal. Loss of income for truck accident victims is also common, which only makes the doctor bills even tougher to pay. To get through such a difficult experience, a truck accident lawyer can help you win compensation for your losses.

An experienced commercial truck accident lawyer will understand the challenges you’re facing because of injuries or accidental death of a loved one. Issues brought on by stress and financial hardship can grow even worse over time. By contacting the Nahon Firm to talk about your case, you are taking an important first step. To speak with one of our staff, call 615-324-2000. We can review the specifics of your commercial truck accident and advise on your best course of action. Clients of the Nahon Firm are viewed with compassion and respect, and our 30 years of experience in commercial truck accidents cases is ready to go to work for you. From collecting accident scene reports to negotiating with the trucking company and insurance agents, we’ll fight for your rights in the courtroom.

The slow speed of the so-called economic recovery has hit virtually all segments of the economy, including the agriculture industry from small family owned farms and dairies to large commercial agri-businesses.  The federal government took action last year to ease the financial burden on farmers, which did not receive much fanfare but may have significant consequences for those who share the roadways with big-rigs in Tennessee.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) granted an exemption from hours of service (HOS) rules to commercial carriers and truck drivers who transport farming equipment and goods.  The exemption covers the full spectrum of agricultural equipment and products, such as loads of wheat, tankers full of milk and rigs transporting heavy farm machinery.  HOS rules generally provide that a commercial driver may only operate a tractor-trailer a maximum of eleven consecutive hours with a maximum of fourteen total hours of on-duty time during a day.  These rules also establish limits for maximum hours over a certain period of days and mandate the minimum duration of off-duty periods.

The exemption created by the FMCSA allows truck drivers and commercial carriers to disregard these anti-fatigue safety regulations if the drop-off and pick-up points for load are within a hundred miles of each other.  This is an example of how economic hardships can compromise vehicle safety.  There is no real basis for distinguishing the danger posed by fatigued truck drivers in the agricultural sector of the economy from any other segment of the trucking industry.  Tractor-trailers that are fully loaded with agricultural products or equipment are just as dangerous when driven by a fatigued driver as any other commercial big-rig.  Because driver fatigue is a leading cause of trucking accidents, this exemption compromises motor vehicle occupant and pedestrian safety in the name of short-term economic benefits.

While the personal injury attorneys at The Nahon Firm understand the vital role that agriculture plays in our state’s economy, we question the wisdom of easing the rules that mitigate the risk associated with the most common cause of trucking accidents.  The danger of this policy has been seen in other industries like the petroleum industry.  Exemption of the oil industry from anti-fatigue trucking regulations has resulted in a substantially higher risk of fatigue-related collisions involving trucks transporting petroleum products.

Our Tennessee big-rig accident attorneys at The Nahon Firm are committed to holding negligent parties’ accountable for the injuries and wrongful deaths caused by their negligence.  The experienced Nashville trucking accident lawyers at The Nahon Firm are dedicated to helping injury victims recover the financial compensation they need to reclaim their lives.  We invite you to contact us at 615-324-2000 to schedule your free consultation so that you can learn about your rights and options.

When owners of motor vehicles like cars, SUVs and trucks fail to perform necessary maintenance or drive unsafely, the risk of an auto collision resulting in significant injury increases.  However, when the negligent driver or vehicle owner is a commercial driver that works for a commercial carrier, the stakes get a whole lot higher.  Big-rigs may weigh more than two dozen times more than the weight of a the typical passenger car so it is essential that trucking companies in Tennessee be diligent about hiring, training and supervising their drivers as well as properly maintaining the brakes, tires, and other aspects of their semi-trucks.

However, a recent fatal collision between an SUV and an 18-wheeler that killed six occupants of the SUV demonstrates the devastating consequences when trucking companies put profits above vehicle safety.  While it is hard to imagine a commercial driver underestimating the danger of following another vehicle two closely when operating a vehicle that may weigh up to 80,000 pounds, but there are few other viable explanations for the fact that the tractor-trailer slammed into the SUV from behind.

As if the circumstances of this fatal tractor-trailer collision are not tragic enough, an investigation following the fatal trucking accident revealed that the trucking company had received 17 citations during the two years immediately prior to the deadly trucking accident.  The citations were not for harmless insignificant violations but rather the types of driving conduct that one would expect to cause a semi-truck collision.  The citations included the following violations among others:

• Speeding
• Tailgating
• Unsafe lane changes

Ironically, these are precisely the types of violations that contributed to this fatal commercial truck accident revealing that proper monitoring and supervision by the trucking company or more aggressive regulatory enforcement might easily have prevented this needless loss of life.  The trucking company was given a satisfactory rating by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) despite the pattern of violations.  During the two year period, there were 59 inspections conducted of the tractor-trailers operated by this commercial carrier that resulted in removal of a truck from the road in twelve separate cases.  Amazingly, this level of non-compliance is only slightly below the national average for all trucking companies.

If you are involved in a collision involving a big-rig truck, litigation of a trucking accident claim can be complicated.  There will typically be federal or state investigators dispatched to investigate the cause of the crash along with the typical law enforcement traffic accident investigators.  The earlier you can get trucking accident attorneys and tractor-trailer accident experts working on your behalf the better the chance of maximizing the compensation that you receive for your injuries or loss.

The Nashville tractor-trailer accident attorneys at The Nahon Firm are committed to holding negligent trucking companies and careless truck drivers accountable for the injuries and wrongful deaths caused by their negligence.  The experienced Nashville semi-truck lawyers at The Nahon Firm are dedicated to helping injury victims recover the financial compensation they need to reclaim their lives.  We invite you to contact us at 615-324-2000 to schedule your free consultation so that you can learn about your rights and options.

Trucking accident data gathered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reveals that the danger posed by semi-trucks continues to rise.  During a recent twelve month period, there were approximately 500,000 tractor-trailer accidents in the U.S. that caused 100,000 injuries and another 5,000 fatalities.  It is even more troubling that these numbers have been consistently trending upward.  An important reason for this trend is the failure of trucking companies to properly train or suspend drivers who repeatedly operate a big-rig unsafely or fail to perform required maintenance.

A recent fatal trucking accident in Kentucky that caused the death of 6 people provides a compelling example.  The truck driver involved in the fatal collision had received a total of seventeen traffic tickets during the two year period prior to the deadly collision.  These traffic violations included unsafe lane changes, tailgating and speeding.  Any of these violations constitutes a serious risk of causing a tractor-trailer crash, but the trucking company failed to take this truck operator out of service.

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has recently warned states to more carefully monitor large trucks, the state agency charged with policing trucking companies had given this commercial carrier a satisfactory overall performance rating.  If you think that we are safe in Tennessee, it is important to recognize that this trucking company’s rating means that it had a slightly better than average record of passing inspections when compared with the average trucking company nationally.

Over the 24 month period that the truck driver involved in this collision was racking up traffic violations, the trucking company Highway Star was forced to take vehicles out of service in more than twenty percent of inspections.  The level of non-compliance with federal safety regulations by trucking companies is evidenced by the fact that almost 21 percent of trucking companies across the U.S. must take semi-trucks out of service for violations during regulatory inspections.

The extensive regulations that govern large trucks serve as an acknowledgement of the enhanced risk posed by 80,000 pound vehicles to other vehicle occupants, bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians.  However, these regulations will continue to be of limited effectiveness if the regulations are not more aggressively enforced by trucking companies.  One of the most important weapons in removing unsafe big-rig operators from the highways of Tennessee is to hold companies accountable via personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.

If you are involved in a Nashville trucking accident, our experienced Tennessee tractor-trailer accident attorneys diligently pursue the full measure of compensation for victims of truck drivers and indifferent trucking companies.  At the Nahon Firm PLC, our Nashville semi-truck accident lawyers are committed to assisting victims in recovering the compensation they need to move past their injuries.  If you or someone you love has been injured in a tractor-trailer crash, we invite you to contact us at 615-324-2000 to schedule your free consultation.