(Newswire.net — November 13, 2018) — Truck drivers, facing new federal regulations, are racing to beat the clock, as a rest break after eight hours of driving came into law. The rest break was designed to lower the risk of driver fatigue in an effort to reduce the number of accidents on U.S. roadways.
Some in the industry claim that the law is doing the exact opposite, as big truck crashes have reached their highest levels in 29 years in 2017.
“Truck drivers are prohibited from driving more than 11 hours in any 14-hour window. They are not allowed to drive more than 60 hours in a 7-day period, or 70 hours within an 8-day period,” writes https://sigurdsonlaw.com.
Large-truck accidents rose 9% last year, while motor vehicle crashes experienced a 2% decline. There were 4,761 large truck accident deaths, with 392 more lives lost in the previous year. Truckers accounted for 1,300 of the deaths, and the remaining were all people driving in other vehicles.
Drivers claim that a lack of flexibility in scheduling and the hours allowed to drive has forced many truckers to speed to get to their destination. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration claims that they hope regulations aren’t causing truckers to put themselves and others in danger to deliver freight.
Officials have denied reports that the new laws are causing truckers to speed, claiming that there isn’t a link between the two. Drivers only need to take a thirty-minute break after driving for eight hours straight, and these drivers can still drive 11 hours in a 14-hour period.
Truckers are against the 30-minute break rule, submitting some 5,200 comments to the FMCSA. Officials claim that the most comments have come out against the rule, which many say is causing them to be more fatigued than driving straight to their destination.
Seasoned drivers are putting some of the blame on new drivers, which they claim have bad driving habits that they’re now taking to the roadways.
Reports suggest that some of these new drivers will keep their feet on the dashboard when driving, and many will use cruise control. The habit doesn’t allow drivers to respond to road conditions fast enough, having to put their feet back on the ground to hit the brake in the event of an emergency.
A lack of accessible parking and safe parking are also to blame to some extent, according to truckers. Statistics show that more accidents occur within at least 20 miles of a rest stop.