The summer months are upon us. Travel upon our highways will increase as families travel to visit relatives or go on vacations to campgrounds, historic sites or other fun locations. With summer highway travel safety is a major concern and must to the focus of both the driver, as well as, passengers. Don't be distracted [...]
I am happy to be recognized as one of Washington State's top Truck Accident Attorneys. I am on the National Board of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. This organization is made up of committed lawyers who have joined together to help eliminate unsafe and illegal interstate trucking practices. It is through [...]
Today with snow all over the roadways here in the Pacific Northwest, roadway travel was limited. Those that had to go out faced conditions of icy roads, continuous snow flakes or ice rain and side roads that were difficult to navigate. Out there, crazy drivers went too fast, followed too close and tried to go [...]
The Pacific Northwest is blanketed in snow which is expected to remain on the roadways for the next 36 hours. It is especially important to slow down as you drive on the roadways. Truck drivers need to pay particular attention to safety and defensive driving. Truck drivers need to slow down, leave enough room between [...]
Federal Regulations require that no truck driver shall operate a vehicle while the driver's ability is impaired or is likely to become impaired through fatigue. This means that a driver whose ability to safely operate his truck is impaired because he is tired or his ability is likely to become impaired because he is tired [...]
The U.S. Department of Transportation has taken new action to address driver fatigue and to make sure that truck drivers get the rest they need to operate safely when on our public roadways. The new rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reduces by 12 hours the maximum number of hours a [...]
Over the past month, there have been several truck crashes in the Pacific Northwest. They include a semi truck that careened into several construction trucks parked along the shoulder of I-5. Another, involved a tanker truck that overturned on SR 405 in Bellevue. Yet another, involved a semi that went off the road, hit several [...]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in conjunction with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a final rule specifically prohibiting interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles. The final rule prohibits commercial drivers from using a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a commercial [...]
Most rear-end collisions are entirely preventable with proper training and safe driving. So why does this type of crash happen so often? It is my experience that rear-end collisions are often a failure of truck drivers to: maintain a safe following distance; operate their trucks at a proper speed for the traffic, road and weather conditions; [...]
The fall has arrived and soon we will be in winter. It is this time of year that greater care is needed when traveling on our roadways. Often, as I travel on Pacific Northwest freeways, I watch Trucks go speeding by me without regard to the weather conditions. Rain conditions require defensive driver practices. [...]
