Truck Accidents - Driving at Night
Truck accident attorney Michael Leizerman describes the dangers of drowsy driving, and explains federal motor carrier safety laws regarding truck driving at night.
Read transcript...Drivers must drive at a speed that allows them to stop within their sight distance. That means that cannot overdrive their headlights. They must go slow enough to be able to stop within their headlight range"”which is about 250 feet with low beams and 350-500 feet with high beams.
The Commercial Drivers License Manual says that trucks are a greater risk when driven at night. This is due to adjusting vision in the dark, glare, fatigue, poor lighting situations, drunk drivers on the road, and dirty windshields and mirrors.
There are laws that help guarantee a truck can be seen at night. This includes clean and properly working reflectors, marker lights, clearance lights, taillights and identification lights. 49 CFR 391.11 and .13 speak to conspicuity systems and specific placement of lights. Safety standard No. 108 found at 49 CFR §571.108 goes into incredible detail about placement of lights and reflectors in terms of how many millimeters wide and their exact placement. To drive safely at night, a driver must perform the usual pre-trip inspection, paying close attention to make sure all lights, reflectors and windows are clean. A sleepy driver must stop at the nearest safe place to do so. 49 CFR 292.3 says that a driver shall not operate"”and their company shall not require them to operate"”a truck when they're likely to be impaired. This can be due to any cause, including illness or fatigue. Tired truckers are a huge problem on our highway. A crash is about ten times more likely to be fatal when a large truck involved. The only cure for fatigue is sleep! This is serious. I've been guilty of driving while tired in the past. After receiving truck driving training and seeing the devastation a tired driver causes, I've made a personal commitment that if I'm tired"”even if dinner's on the table and I know my wife will be mad if I'm late"”I pull of the road and take a 20 minute nap. There is no truckload so important, no personal obligation so pressing that justifies any driver on the road risking the lives of others.