New Mexico Truck Accident Attorneys

Be it a short or long haul, Davis Kelin will go the distance to ensure truck drivers and commercial trucking companies are held responsible for their negligent actions.

How a New Mexico Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help

Here at the Davis Kelin Law Firm we specialize in injury cases, and have handled complex trucking accident cases in the past. We are always vigilant in staying up-to-date on all areas of law that could affect your case and we make a living negotiating with insurance adjusters and trucking companies on our clients’ behalf. Thus, we are fully equipped to go the extra mile to ensure you are compensated for any damages caused by the reckless conduct of a truck driver or trucking company.

Liability of Truck Drivers and the Trucking Companies who Hire Them

Law is often a question of blame, and litigation ultimately results in the allocation of fault among the parties involved, with each to pay his respective share. It is in this divvying up of fault juries are asked to consider how much of the truck accident was due to the defendant truck driver, the plaintiff, or the trucking company involved.

Why are we so adamant about holding truck drivers and trucking companies responsible for their actions? While car accidents are more common, trucking accidents in New Mexico still account for nearly 3% of all vehicle-related accidents in the state. According to the Commercial Driver’s License Manual, professional truck drivers can’t just be good drivers, they have to be better than anyone else on the road. Why? The sad fact is that accidents involving tractor-trailers (a.k.a. “commercial motor vehicles”) more often than not result in either the death or serious injury of the driver and passengers of the other vehicle.

Unfortunately, the public has very little protection from such vehicles, as their sheer size makes them a threat to the safety of every driver on the road. Thus, sharing the roads with automobiles must be a safety concern for the professional driver.

Federal Law And The Trucking Industry

Federal law regulating the trucking industry grew in response to known safety concerns in commercial driving behavior.

For example, we, as a society, have recognized that a tired or reckless driver puts everyone in danger because any failure due to fatigue could cost lives. Thus, federal law mandates that trucking companies must put the safety of the public first; however, certain human beings are prone to greed, and those employed in the trucking field are no different. Often, trucking companies or truck drivers will cut corners to secure maximum profit and because of the innumerable drivers and companies in existence, there is very little room to ensure compliance.

Violations of these rules often results in death of a motorist, and the public has the right to have safety rules and regulations enforced. Sometimes the only way to enforce compliance with rules is to employ the courts and seek vindication for any death or serious injury caused by a driver’s unlawful conduct.

Why Involve The Trucking Company?

Some might see this as odd; there were only two parties involved in the accident, the truck driver and the plaintiff, so why involve the in the trucking company in a trucking accident?

In many instances this is simply the nature of the beast; our society mandates that corporate and other employers be responsible for the harm caused by their employees when they are on the job. In other trucking accident cases, the trucking company’s actions are sometimes far more sinister.

It is in the latter scenario that we get concerned, mostly because employers take affirmative steps to place profit above the safety of the public. The most common forms of such abuses are in logbook falsifications and overlooked safety violations, which make up a large amount of negligent hiring, retention and training cases we have seen.

Trucking Companies and Truck Drivers are Held to Elevated Standards.

Truck drivers are trained to employ a variety of defensive safety precautions over and above the normal traffic regulations applicable to all drivers. For instance, operators of commercial vehicles must be prepared to act in response to approaching hazards and are supposed to be thinking anywhere from 12 to 15 seconds ahead while on the highway or 1 block ahead at lower speeds. The idea behind this is to force truck drivers to yield to other smaller vehicles that would otherwise be literally crushed beneath them. Along these lines truck drivers are to be aware of the size and weight of their loads when crossing traffic so as to prevent any undue traffic problems due to a truck’s failure to clear an intersection or attempt to turn left. Again, these seem like fairly obvious standards, but they are often forgotten or flat our ignored in the pursuit of profit.

Commercial Trucking Logbooks

Pictured below is a trucker’s “logbook”.

These records are the “meat and potatoes” of all legitimate trucking businesses, as they allow drivers the opportunity to record the time spent driving, on duty, off duty and sleeping.

Drivers must turn logs from every trip and each log is broken down by 24-hour periods.

The driver is expected to record his or her “duty status” in a form similar to the one shown above. Every time the driver changes their status they are required to note the municipality and state they are in, or, if on the road, the highway number and nearest milepost, service plaza, or intersecting roadways followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State.

In addition to this location information drivers must include things like:

The date
Total miles and hours drove that day
Truck or tractor and trailer number
Name of carrier
24–hour period start-time
Main office address
Additional remarks
Name of co-driver
The driver’s signature/certification that all of the information provided is true to the best of his or her knowledge.

Federal law mandates that failure to complete the required daily logs, or making false reports in connection with any duty activities, shall make the driver and/or the carrier liable to prosecution.

Thus, at least in theory, if a driver’s logs are not turned in, or if there is an apparent discrepancy in them, then they should not be allowed on the road. Only after the driver has acknowledged and fixed the discrepancies should he be allowed back on duty. If a driver who should have been removed from the road is allowed to drive, and subsequently causes an accident, the trucking company can be held liable for the fact that the driver was even on the road through a negligent hiring and retention lawsuit.

Simply put, we want trucking companies to make good decisions about their drivers. When a company decides to allow a driver (who they know will likely falsify a log) on the road its corporate officers essentially condone the unsafe behavior and extended driving hours, far beyond what our society has deemed safe. Tired drivers get people killed, and it is the duty of every trucking company to reprimand and supervise its drivers to prevent unnecessary harm their reckless behavior can cause.

Driver Vehicle History

Trucking companies are required to periodically ensure that their drivers’ vehicle histories are clear and that their drivers are complying with traffic regulations. This means that they are to look up their employee’s records and issue disciplinary action especially if traffic violations such as speeding and reckless driving are present. The purpose of this is to ensure that reckless drivers are made painfully aware that their disregard for the safety of the public is unacceptable. Just as lawyers have a duty to uphold the constitution, trucking companies also have a duty to follow the duly enacted safety laws of our country.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that safety compliance can ultimately save lives, decrease injuries and reduce property loss. So why don’t trucking companies do more?

Federal law mandates that, upon conviction of traffic violations, a driver must notify his or her employer in writing, and give a detailed description of the violation. If, for any reason, a driver’s CDL (commercial driver’s license) is revoked or suspended then a company must disqualify and disallow driving until it has been reinstated. A driver can also be disqualified for two serious traffic violations within 3 years. Greater weight is given to traffic violations which indicate that the driver exhibited disregard for the safety of public such as speeding and reckless driving.

To ensure compliance, companies must conduct an annual review of driving records. While these basic checks are easily carried out, many companies falsify (or simply do not conduct) legitimate reporting in the interest of keeping cheaper drivers on the road, regardless of the potential safety risks they might pose. As these are fairly basic regulations, we wonder constantly why companies choose to put the public in danger, rather than requiring and enforcing more stringent requirements relating to the safety of operation.

What Damages Can Be Recovered?

As with any Albuquerque personal injury case, we will seek compensation for any medical treatment, funeral services, losses to property, physical pain, or mental suffering incurred in a trucking accident. However, when an accident involves a provable case of negligent hiring/retention, punitive damages are often awarded by the jury. Punitive damages are essentially meant to punish the company or driver for reckless or intentional behavior that causes injury to other people. Such damages are often meant to deter future misconduct and are directly applicable to companies who placed profits over safety.

This simple fact adds a unique filter to the case, especially where evidence exists that the company sanctioned or should have known that the driver posed a risk to the public. Beyond the general causation and damages that are essential to any case, plaintiffs seeking to establish the claim of negligence in hiring, supervising, or retaining an employee, must prove that company knew (or should have known) that the employee would create an unreasonable risk of injury to the public; and that it was the company’s failure to use ordinary care in training or supervising the employee that caused the plaintiff’s injury.

This is a little different from the theory of respondent superior, which allows for employer liability if their employee was on the job, in that the employee does not necessarily have to be on the job to qualify.

Why Hire a Trucking Accident Lawyer?

Trucking accident cases are generally more difficult than the average accident case because of additional factors that come to play when an agency relationship exists between the negligent actor and a third party who is responsible for that person’s actions. This simple fact adds a unique filter to the case, especially where evidence exists that the company sanctioned or should have known that the driver posed a risk to the public. Beyond the general causation and damages that are essential to any case, plaintiffs seeking to establish the claim of negligence in hiring, supervising, or retaining an employee, must prove that company knew (or should have known) that the employee would create an unreasonable risk of injury to the public; and that it was the company’s failure to use ordinary care in training or supervising the employee that caused the plaintiff’s injury.

Trucking Accidents and Defective Equipment

Defective truck equipment is a common cause of accidents. Approximately one out of every four semi-trucks, upon inspection, have been found to be so mechanically deficient that it is illegal for them to be operating on the roadways and they are declared out of service. Of course, it is only upon inspection that any of this is actually known, and there are likely thousands of trucks on the road this week that are in violation of federal law.

Truck Driver DUI

A 1995 roadside study in four states found that illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, or amphetamines/methamphetamine were also prevalent in the trucking industry (almost 5 percent of truck drivers tested positive for illicit drug use). This is in the face of longstanding federal regulations requiring carriers to test all commercial drivers for drugs and alcohol before employment, after crashes, and on a random basis. So the question we keep asking ourselves is why are these drivers still on the road.

Accidents Caused by Truck Driver Fatigue

The concept seems fairly simple: if you are tired, go to sleep. Yet, an expert witness once testified that approximately forty percent of serious accidents are caused by the truck driver’s fatigue. This probably has something to do with the fact that some trucking companies offer incentives for early deliveries in addition to already grueling schedules.

Contact a New Mexico Truck Accident Lawyer Today

If you or a loved one have been involved in a truck accident in New Mexico, don’t hesitate to contact Davis Kelin Law Firm, LLC. Our experienced attorneys understand the complexities of truck accident cases and are dedicated to helping victims receive the compensation they deserve. Trucking companies and their insurers will have a team of lawyers working to protect their interests, and you need an experienced attorney on your side to fight for your rights. Contact Davis Kelin Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation and let us help you navigate the legal process and seek the justice you deserve.