http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=73563
Research by the Department Of Transportation confirms to Missouri truck accident attorneys that a truck driver’s risk of being involved in an accident increases substantially when he has a history of accidents. That isn’t exactly a surprise, but it does confirm that employers need to be very careful about screening potential drivers before hiring them.
The research relied on truck driver accident data involving more than 582,772 truck drivers. The data was gathered over a two-year period, and only involved those convictions that increased a driver’s accident risk by more than 50%. Some of the interesting findings from the study:
Signal failure, including failure to use signals or improper signals were the leading convictions linked to a truck driver’s accident risks, increasing a driver’s risk by as much as 96%.
Being involved in accidents increased the risk by as much as 88%. A similar increase was seen for improper passing violation convictions.
Besides these, there were also increased crash risks for drivers with improper turn convictions (84%), improper lane change convictions (80%), improper lane/location convictions (68 %), convictions for failure to obey traffic signs (60%), speeding convictions (67 %), and reckless driving convictions (64 %). Overall, there was an increased risk of accidents by as much as 64% for any conviction. However, the new research contrasted with estimates found in the 2005 report. In that report, there were as many as three convictions that actually doubled crash risks.
One of the criteria by which truck drivers can be categorized is a look at their accident safety history. That includes violations for a range of traffic safety offenses. Trucking companies need to take a closer look at the crash history of potential job applicants, before hiring them.
