As discussed in my prior post, Texas participated in Roadcheck 2011, which is a national effort to remove dangerous commercial vehicles and dangerous commercial drivers from our highways.  It was reported that this year Texas inspected nearly 8000 commercial trucks and buses, with 26.5% of the inspected vehicles being removed from service due to safety issues such as bad tires and brakes.  This is a positive step in keeping dangerous 18 wheelers, buses, and other dangerous large commercial vehicles from causing unnecessary injuries and wrongful deaths on our highways.  What is most telling about these statistics, however, is that despite the extensive regulations requiring constant inspections and maintenance of commercial trucks, trucking companies continue to routinely ignore these laws choosing instead to put their profits ahead of the safety of Texas families.  There is really no excuse why any truck should ever be put into service unless it meets the minimum safety requirements dictated by state and federal laws.  Bad brakes on an 18 wheeler in crowded rush hour traffic in Dallas or other cites all too often results in unnecessary injuries and deaths that could have been avoided. 

If you or a loved one has been injured in trucking accident, let the Texas trucking accident attorneys at Wilson Trosclair & Lovins work to protect your rights.  Call us today at 214-484-1930.

Texas State Troopers recently participated in Roadcheck, which is a nationwide effort over three days to inspect as many commercial trucks and buses as possible.  The goal of Roadcheck is to “raise the bar for safer trucks, buses, and drivers” and thereby make our roadways safer.  This is done by inspecting every major component of the 18-wheelers and buses as well as testing brakes, tires and lights.  Recognizing that truck driver fatigue and inattention is one of the major causes of trucking accidents in Texas and throughout the country (in fact it is estimated that truck drivers play a role in 9 out of every 10 trucking accidents), drivers were required to produce their log books to make sure they were in compliance with driving time regulations. While the results of this year’s inspection are not known, last year over 65,000 commercial trucks or buses were inspected, and this year inspections are expected to exceed 75,000.  In Texas alone, nearly 7000 trucks and buses were inspected last year with nearly 25 % of those trucks being removed from the roads due to serious safety violations, and an additional 160 drivers were removed from the roadways due to faulty log books or invalid driver’s licenses.  Roadcheck is clearly an important step to keeping our highways free of dangerous trucks, thereby reducing the number of injuries and fatalities that result for trucking accidents.