The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced that 109 commercial bus and truck drivers have been taken off the road and over 175 carriers face enforcement action due to drug and alcohol use. The FMCSA conducted its yearly two-week drug and alcohol crackdown between June 21 and July 2.
In promoting road safety and accident prevention, the FMCSA plays an important role in removing unsafe commercial drivers and carriers from the road who put themselves, other motorists, and pedestrians at risk of injury and death. This is especially important with commercial bus drivers who may transport hundreds of passengers on a daily basis and school bus drivers who have the lives of young children in their hands.
The recent investigation focused on examining the drug and alcohol safety records of commercial drivers employed by bus and truck companies, including school bus drivers, interstate passenger carriers, hazardous material transporters, and basic freight long-haul truckers. One of the FMCSA’s goals was to identify commercial truck and bus drivers who go from carrier to carrier in order to avoid federal drug and alcohol testing and reporting requirements and to remove them from the road. The FMCSA also focused on identifying motor carriers that violated federal drug and alcohol testing requirements.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, more than 1,000 people were killed in California alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents in 2008. Accidents involving commercial buses and trucks are often more serious than those involving smaller vehicles because larger, heavier vehicles are more difficult to maneuver and control and more likely to severely damage other vehicles that are impacted in a collision.
Large commercial truck and bus drivers who cause accidents as a result of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and the companies that employ them can be held liable for the injuries and fatalities of others involved in those crashes. Truck and bus accident litigation is complex, requiring the legal skills and resources of Los Angeles truck accident lawyers and bus crash attorneys who have a significant success record in large commercial vehicle accident cases. At Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, our aggressive lawyers have obtained numerous seven and eight figure settlements and verdicts for those injured in truck and bus accidents as well as family members of wrongful death victims. For more information about our firm and how we can help you, please call 877-800-1700 or visit www.psblaw.com.
