Extreme fatigue can impair your judgment and reaction time just as much as alcohol and drugs, which means driving while tired can be just as dangerous as driving while drunk or high. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of commercial truck drivers who regularly work while fatigued. In some situations, it is their employer’s fault they are working in that condition and not necessarily their own.
Either way, fatigued truck drivers in Glendale accidents often hold civil liability for injuries and losses caused by those accidents, and you may have grounds to demand significant civil compensation if you have been hurt by this sort of negligence. That said, you may have trouble getting paid everything you deserve unless you get the help of a truck accident lawyer from Phillips Law Group who is not afraid to go to trial on your behalf.
What Causes Truck Drivers to Drive While Dangerously Tired?
It is worth mentioning that some fatigued truck drivers who end up involved in truck wrecks in Glendale are tired solely because of their own failure to get enough sleep before their shift. Sometimes, though, truck driver fatigue stems from external pressure put on those drivers by their employers, who want to get cargo delivered as fast as possible and do not understand—or intentionally ignore—the risks of keeping their drivers on the road for an unsafe length of time.
Notably, this kind of pressure from trucking companies is irresponsible and potentially a violation of federal law. More specifically, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets very specific restrictions on how many hours truckers can work and when they must go off-shift to get proper sleep, and any company that allows or forces their drivers to break these rules may face both civil liability for an ensuing traffic accident and criminal liability for flaunting federal law.
How Legal Counsel Can Help Build a Strong Claim
Of course, neither a truck driver who stays up too late before a shift nor a trucking company that pressures its driver to ignore FMCSA regulations will readily admit to being negligent, especially not after a catastrophic traffic collision. With that in mind, it can be vital for people injured by fatigued truck driver accidents in Glendale to have as much evidence as possible to prove that fatigue was the main cause of their injuries. This includes driver logs and similar records, witness testimony, traffic or dashboard camera footage, and information pulled from a truck’s onboard data recorder.
In addition to helping collect, preserve, and effectively present relevant evidence, a skilled legal professional can also help navigate various legal and procedural roadblocks to recovery. Depending on the circumstances, a lawyer from Phillips Law Group can help contest allegations of comparative fault made against an injured person, make sure they file their claim within applicable filing deadlines, or do both of those things and much more over the course of the legal process.
A Glendale Attorney Can Help Hold Fatigued Truck Drivers Liable for Accidents
Even if you are sure that an overly tired trucker is to blame for causing your recent accident, proving them or their employer at fault for your wreck is far from simple. In fact, many people who try to pursue claims like this entirely on their own miss out on most or all of the compensation to which they should have legally been entitled.
If you want to take effective legal action over a fatigued truck driver involved in a Glendale accident, contacting Phillips Law Group should be among your top priorities. Call today to speak with one of our team members and learn how we could put our 30+ years of litigation experience in the metro area toward getting you the best possible case result.
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