Frequently Asked Questions...

Below are some initial questions many personal injury and medical malpractice clients have when they first contact Blankingship and Keith. In the aftermath of a serious injury, victims and their family members want accurate and objective legal answers quickly. The questions below can address many initial concerns you may have. If you don’t find the answers here, you may contact us for answers to more complex questions or questions specific to your case. The initial consultation is free.

Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, Bus Accidents, and accidents involving other Commercial Vehicles

· Do tractor-trailers have high crash rates?

· Who dies in crashes involving large trucks?

· Is driver fatigue a factor in truck crashes?

· Are young truck drivers at higher risk of crashing?

· What are the hours-of-service rules (work hour limits)?

· How often are these hours of service rules violated?

· How can violations of the hours-of-service rules be reduced?

· Are large trucks prone to rolling over?

· Does defective equipment play an important role in truck crashes?

· How effective are truck brakes?

· What are truck under ride crashes?

· Can trucks be made more visible to other drivers at night?

Sexual Assault Victims and Inadequate Security

· If a co-worker or customer assaults me at work, should I file a worker's compensation claim?

Defective Products and Workplace Safety

Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, Bus Accidents, and accidents involving other Commercial Vehicles

Q: What is a large truck?

A: Large trucks weigh more than 10,000 pounds and can be either single-unit vehicles or combination vehicles consisting of a single-unit truck or tractor pulling one or more trailers. In most states, the maximum permitted length for a single trailer is 53 feet. Tractors pulling two 28-foot trailers are known as twins or western doubles. Trucks even bigger than western doubles are allowed to travel on some of the nation's roads. These trucks, called longer combination vehicles, either have three trailers or have at least two trailers, one of which is 29 feet or longer, or the tractor and two trailers have a combined weight exceeding 80,000 pounds.
[Back to Top]

Q: Do tractor-trailers have high crash rates?

A: Tractor-trailers are involved in more fatal crashes per unit of travel than passenger cars -- 2.6 compared with 1.7 per 100 million miles traveled in 2001 -- even though a much higher proportion of tractor-trailer miles are traveled on well-designed interstate highways.
[Back to Top]

Q: Who dies in crashes involving large trucks?

A: About 5,000 people die each year in crashes involving large trucks. In fatal two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles and large trucks, 98 percent of the deaths occur to the people in the passenger vehicles. Large trucks accounted for 3 percent of registered vehicles and 7 percent of vehicle miles traveled in 2001 but were involved in 12 percent of all passenger vehicle occupant deaths and in 22 percent of multiple-vehicle passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2001.
[Back to Top]

Q: Is driver fatigue a factor in truck crashes?

A: Yes. Driver fatigue is associated with truck crashes. Research shows truck crash risk increases with driver hours behind the wheel. Crash risk is also higher between midnight and 6 a.m. The long hours truck drivers work cause sleep deprivation, circadian desynchronization, and fatigue. Research has found that truck drivers reporting hours-of-service violations also were 77 percent more likely to report having fallen asleep behind the wheel during the month before the interview.
[Back to Top]

Q: Are young truck drivers at higher risk of crashing?

A: Yes. Studies conducted in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia indicate that truck drivers in their 20s have a high rate of involvement in both fatal and nonfatal crashes.
[Back to Top]

Q: What are the hours-of-service rules (work hour limits)?

A: Under federal hours-of-service regulations that will take effect January 2004, interstate commercial drivers won't be allowed to drive more than 11 hours or drive after 14 hours on duty until they have had a 10-hour break. Drivers cannot drive after accruing 60 work hours during a 7-day period or 70 work hours during an 8-day period, but a "restart" provision will allow truckers to actually go for 17 hours in 7 days or 88 hours in 8 days.
[Back to Top]

Q: How often are these hours of service rules violated?

A: Studies suggest that these work rules are commonly violated. A 1990 study by the Insurance Institute for Automotive Safety estimated that, on a 1,200-mile route from Washington State to Minnesota, more than half of the tractor-trailer drivers violated hours-of-service regulations. When the Institute surveyed long-haul tractor-trailer drivers in four states in 1991, almost three-fourths of the respondents indicated they violated hours-of-service regulations. About one-third of them said they routinely drove more than 60-70 hours. More than 25 percent reported working 100 hours or more per week, and 19 percent admitted to falling asleep at the wheel one or more times during the preceding month. More recent studies by other researchers confirm that hours-of-service violations by interstate truckers continue to be common. The long hours driven by many truckers can lead to the use and abuse of stimulants.
[Back to Top]

Q: How can violations of the hours-of-service rules be reduced?

A: Current regulations allow drivers to use written logbooks of their hours, which truck drivers call "comic books" because they are so easily falsified. Onboard computers reduce the opportunities for violating the rules because they automatically record when a truck is driven and its speed. The Institute and five other organizations petitioned the Department of Transportation to require the installation and use of tamper-resistant electronic onboard computers on commercial vehicles whose drivers now are required to maintain written logbooks. The National Transportation Safety Board also has repeatedly recommended that such recorders be mandated. In 2000, FMCSA published a proposal to require these devices but dropped the proposal from the final work-hour rules that take effect January 2004. This proposal has met with a lot of opposition from some members of the trucking industry, but some trucking associations have endorsed a requirement for electronic recorders.
[Back to Top]

Q: Are large trucks prone to rolling over?

A: Yes. The high center of gravity of large trucks increases their risk of rolling over, particularly on curving ramps. About half of deaths among occupants of large trucks occur in crashes in which their vehicle rolled over, compared with about 60 percent of SUV occupant deaths and 40 percent of pickup occupant deaths (both SUVs and pickups have high centers of gravity). In contrast, about 20 percent of passenger car occupant deaths occurred in vehicles that rolled over.
[Back to Top]

Q: Does defective equipment play an important role in truck crashes?

A: Yes. Institute researchers who examined crashes of large trucks in Washington State found that tractor-trailers with defective equipment were twice as likely to be in crashes as trucks without defects. Brake defects were most common. They were found in 56 percent of the tractor-trailers involved in crashes. Steering equipment defects were found in 21 percent of crash-involved trucks.
[Back to Top]

Q: How effective are truck brakes?

A: Compared with passenger vehicles, stopping distances for trucks are much longer. On wet and slippery roads there are greater disparities between the braking capabilities of large trucks and cars. Current brake problems are aggravated by the poor maintenance practices of some truck companies. Out-of-adjustment brakes are the most common reason for authorities to order trucks out of service.
[Back to Top]

Q: What are truck under ride crashes?

A: In an under ride crash, a passenger vehicle goes partially or wholly under a truck or trailer, increasing the likelihood of death or serious injury to the passenger vehicle occupants. The problem of fatal under ride crashes has been substantially underestimated by NHTSA, according to Institute research. A 1997 Institute study of fatal crashes between large trucks and cars estimates that front, rear, or side under ride occurred in half of these crashes.
[Back to Top]

Q: Can trucks be made more visible to other drivers at night?

A: During the day, trucks are easy to see, but it's a different story at night. Research indicates that if drivers of other vehicles can recognize medium and heavy trucks more easily, they can gauge their speed and distance more accurately and respond sooner when necessary. Federal studies have reported that enhancing the conspicuity of trailers reduced the incidence of crashes in which trailers were hit from the side or rear at night on unlighted roads. A federal rule requires improved conspicuity -- adding reflective sheeting or reflectors -- for trailers manufactured after December 1993 and truck tractors (bobtails) manufactured after July 1, 1997. Starting June 1, 2001, the Department of Transportation required the enhanced markings for all trailers on the road, not just new ones.
[Back to Top]

Sexual Assault Victims and Inadequate Security

Q: Do I have to wait until criminal proceedings against a perpetrator are finished before suing in a civil lawsuit?

A: No, not at all, and the civil statutes of limitation are not necessarily extended by criminal proceedings. There may be advantages in waiting, but we represented one family of a victim who waited to contact a lawyer and nearly lost their ability to sue and seek civil justice. You should seek counsel relatively quickly to protect your rights.
[Back to Top]

Q: If a co-worker or customer assaults me at work, should I file a worker's compensation claim?

A: Not neccesarily; if you do, you may lose your right to file a civil lawsuit. In civil lawsuits your civil justice rights may be much broader than in a workers' compensation claim.
[Back to Top]

Defective Products and Workplace Safety

Q: How do I report an unsafe product, so others might be protected?

A: If you wish to report an injury or "near miss" that resulted from the use of a consumer product, you may contact the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at (800) 638-2772, or report a dangerous product or product related injury on line at cpsc.gov/talk.html. In addition to a description of the incident, you should be prepared to provide as much as possible of the following information:

When and where the product was purchased.
Model and serial numbers for the product.
Name and address of the manufacturer as it appears on the product or packaging.
[Back to Top]