Missouri Tractor Trailer Crash Lawyers

Missouri Truck Accident Attorney Tip # 1

Tractor trailer accidents have been on the rise over the past few years. Serious injuries often result when these large trucks crash into other vehicles on our nation's highways. The force involved in a large truck collision is beyond anything we experience in our daily lives.

The increase in truck accidents has caused an increase in personal injury claims against negligent truck companies and negligent truck drivers. Many of the truck accident claims turn into lawsuits against the company and driver. Lawsuits against truck companies are detailed, complex, and very expensive. Because of this, it is important to contact a truck accident law firm that is experienced in handling serious injury and death cases related to trucking accidents.

The trucking industry is governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), a detailed set of rules enacted to help keep our nation's highways and roadways safe. The facts of each truck accident need to be studied and compared to the FMCSR to see if the truck company and/or the truck driver were in violation at the time of the tractor trailer crash. Finding violations of the FMCSR is only one part of properly handling a truck accident case.

Trucking litigation is expensive because numerous experts are usually required to prove certain aspects of the personal injury case. It is common to retain an accident reconstructionist, an economist, a FMCSR expert, medical experts, etc. In addition to the expense, truck cases are extremely time consuming. It is common for a trucking case to last two or three years, sometimes longer.

In a recent Missouri truck accident case, it was discovered the defendant truck driver did not speak English. The truck driver claimed he could not understand the questions he was asked during his deposition. To an inexperienced truck accident lawyer, this may not seem like a big deal. Get an interpreter, ask the defendant truck driver some questions, and be done, right? WRONG!

FMCSR 391.11(b)(2) says that all drivers must read and speak the English language sufficiently:

  1. To converse with the general public;
  2. To understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language;
  3. To respond to official inquiries; and
  4. To make entries on reports and records.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in an enforcement memorandum, has indicated drivers may be placed out-of-service (OOS) if they can't read and speak the English language sufficiently. This is extremely important because out-of-service means the driver is not to operate the tractor trailer until the deficiency is corrected. In this case, it would be reading and speaking the English language sufficiently.

John Page
Attorney at Law
1232 Washington Avenue
Suite 220
St. Louis, MO 63103
T.314.322.8515
john@thepagefirm.com
www.injuredclient.com

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