Truck Design and Truck Accidents, Q&A
Ask Jim Ronca, Truck Accident Lawyer, Pennsylvania & New Jersey
Trucks are big, bold vehicles made of thousands of pounds of metal on wheels. Trucks roar across the country keeping goods and commerce moving but when things go wrong they go very wrong.
How has truck design technology changed?
Truck design modules make truck design easier. They are part of the company's Integrated Car Engineer (ICE), a knowledge-based vehicle-engineering software system, and they are designed to increase the efficiency and productivity of truck manufacturers by allowing multiple vehicle systems to be developed simultaneously against critical industry-standard engineering and design criteria.
The idea is to make possible the true top-down, system-level design approach so needed in today's engineer-to-order truck market. The individual ICE truck modules provide design software for overall truck engineering, driveline system, frame system, steering system, and total vehicle performance.
The user may then modify any of these options to see the trade-offs in areas such as grade ability, top speed, rolling resistance, and maximum vehicle payload.
Why is truck overloading such a big problem?
Trucks are overloaded because time is money: the bigger the load the easier it is to make up for hard-to-find manpower and save on costly gas. It might be moneysaving for the trucking industry but overloaded trucks puts a toll on sagging roads and bridges costing tax payers more money for upkeep.
The cat-and-mouse game between unscrupulous truckers and state inspectors is heating up. The trucking industry pays powerful lobbyists big bucks to influence lawmakers to keep commerce moving at a faster, weightier pace.
For instance, even if trucks are found to be overweight, fines run only about 10 cents a pound – a pittance for risking unsafe behavior. Since weigh stations are generally closed at night, three times as many overweight trucks travel at night.
Is truck warning systems economically feasible?
Collision warning devices are automatic systems that warn drivers when a potentially dangerous situation occurs therefore allowing the driver to take corrective actions. For instance how valuable would a warning be when a truck driver made an unintentional lane change or roadway departure due to drowsiness and inattentiveness.
Part of the problem with warning systems is that it’s difficult to judge their cost effectiveness because of the lack of publicly available accident databases. A database which supported the estimation of accident cost by accident type, the accident records, over a three-year period, of six truckload motor carriers was compiled. Together, the six motor carriers accounted for almost 350 million miles of truck travel during the three-year period.
During this period, there were 264 accidents. The analysis found that a collision warning system which only alerted a driver to a potential accident due to an unintentional lane change or roadway departure was not likely to be cost effective. However, a system which could warn of potentially hazardous situations when other maneuvers are being made (e.g., longitudinal warning in addition to warning during lateral maneuvers) could be very beneficial.
Collision warning systems are part of a family of systems categorized as Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Collision Avoidance Systems (CAS). Collision Avoidance Systems passively or actively facilitate the avoidance of a collision. A warning system is a passive system which alerts the driver to take an action to avoid a collision, while an active system would intervene in the control of the vehicle to avoid a collision.
Are truck brakes doing their job?
It’s time to put on the brakes. In 2004, 416,000 large trucks were involved in traffic crashes where a total of 5,190 people died and an additional 116,000 were injured in those same crashes. One out of eight traffic fatalities in 2004 resulted from a collision involving a large truck. It was reported that brake defects were quite common and were found in 56 percent of the tractor-trailers involved in crashes. In the more recent Large Truck Crash Causation Study sponsored by Department of Transportation, it was concluded that 29.4 percent of all large truck crashes involved brake failure, brakes out of adjustment, or other brake related issues.
Compounding the brake defects issue even more is the fact that although original equipment brakes must comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards which specify maximum stopping distances according to vehicle weight, loading, pedal effort and brake condition. Oddly enough, there are no federal performance standards for aftermarket brake linings. It is typically assumed that replacement brake linings perform the same as or better than the original equipment brake linings on a vehicle.
How important are reflectors in truck safety?
The NHTSA has strict rules about where reflectors must be on trucks. Every lamp, reflex reflector, and conspicuity treatment (device) must be permanently attached to a specified location and must comply with all applicable requirements. The face of any device on the front/rear and sides should be, respectively perpendicular and parallel to vehicle centerline, unless it is photo-metrically certified at installation angle. No part of the vehicle shall prevent any device from meeting its prescribed requirements unless an auxiliary device meeting all prescribed requirements is installed.
What is “Underride” and why is it so critical to truck design safety?
The Underride Network is concerned with issues affecting crash compatibility between small and larger vehicles including all sizes of trucks and SUVs by supporting underride guards for large trucks and trailers; on the front, side, and rear.
World regulation of guards has not kept pace with technological advancements to save lives and prevent injuries. The analysis revealed that about 11 percent of the fatally and 30 percent of the seriously injured car occupants could be saved if trucks were equipped with energy absorbing front underrun protection systems instead of rigid underrun protection systems.
Which is more important the truck design or the truck driver?
Truck drivers have enormous responsibilities every time they get behind the wheel. They go out on jobs alone for days at a time with equipment valued at thousands of dollars. The truck’s value is dwarfed by the value of the cargo that’s been put in their care. But beyond dollars and cents, a truck driver has life-and-death responsibilities of operating at the highest levels of safety despite traffic, construction, bad weather, and aggressive cars.
Mr. Ronca is a truck accident attorney with over 20 years of legal
experience. He has twice been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.