Semi-Truck 18-wheeler accident lawyer in St. Louis Columbia Springfield Rolla Missouri
Truck drivers and trucking companies who transfer goods in interstate commerce must abide by a special set of safety regulations. These safety regulations are actual federal statutes that have also been adopted by Missouri law. But interstate motor carriers are not alone, intrastate (inside the state) motor carriers in Missouri must also abide by these federal safety regulations if they are operating trucks in excess of 25,000 pounds. Federal safety regulations and Missouri safety laws that govern truck drivers are designed with one focus in mind: protect motorists from tractor-trailer 18-wheeler accidents that result in personal injuries or fatalities.
Springfield, St. Louis, Columbia, Springfield, Kansas City, and Rolla are all major cities that are positioned on Missouri's largest interstate highways. These highways are part of a network of roadways that are heavily traveled by semi-trucks, otherwise known as big rigs or 18-wheelers. Missouri tractor-trailer accidents result in loss of property and life, and subsequent personal injury claims and wrongful death lawsuits. The aim of these safety regulations is to allow state regulators to police truck drivers and trucking companies to make sure they are operating within safe parameters.
Head-on 18-wheeler accidents, semi-trucks with bad brakes, and rear-end tractor-trailer crashes, cause serious incidents which result in soft-tissue injury claims, spine injury claims, and traumatic brain injury claims that may be filed by a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident attorney. Are these safety regulations making a difference to reduce injury accidents or fatal accidents? It is hard to tell. It only costs $350 to start a trucking company and apply for 'operating authority' by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
This low start-up cost results in "fly by night" trucking companies that sprout up, disregard safety regulations, cause a serious truck accident, and then close up shop following personal injury lawsuits and civil litigation. The fact of the matter is that truck drivers are in high demand, even in today's economy, and trucking companies are becoming desperate to fill the cabs of the trucks, even if that means putting an unsafe truck driver or fatigued truck driver behind the wheel.