The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) banned hand-held cell phone use by commercial drivers of buses and large trucks in late 2011. Professional drivers throughout Missouri and across the country may now be fined if caught talking or texting while behind the wheel of a semi-truck or bus.
The focus on safety for commercial drivers stems partly from the fact that commercial vehicles are often substantially larger and heavier than the cars, trucks and SUVs driven by others on the road. As a result of their size, commercial vehicle accidents can cause a great deal more damage and devastation if a truck accident or bus accident occurs.
In addition to size, commercial drivers also carry a variety of cargo. From hazardous materials to actual passengers, a truck accident that could have been prevented had the driver been fully alert unnecessarily puts many others on the roadways at risk. Statistics reveal that, when reaching for a phone, commercial drivers are three times more likely to crash. The risk goes up when commercial drivers are dialing on a cell phone, making drivers six times more likely to crash.
Commercial drivers who violate the prohibition against the use of a hand-held phone while driving a truck, bus, semi or other large vehicle, face stiff fines and penalties. Drivers can be fined up to $2,750, according to the DOT. A driver with multiple phone-related offenses may be at risk of losing his or her commercial driver's license (CDL). If there are more than two serious traffic violations, the state will suspend commercial driver's licenses.
The new prohibition on any use of a hand-held cell phone adds to the existing ban on texting while driving by commercial drivers, which was banned in September 2010. Many commercial carriers have already banned hand-held cell phone use by its drivers, including UPS and Greyhound.
Any type of distracted driving is dangerous, whether you are a commercial driver or not. Studies have shown that cell phone use while driving is similar to driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08.
5,474 people were killed in 2009 in distracted-driving crashes. An additional 448,000 were estimated to be injured. In 2009, 16 percent of all fatal crashes in the United States involved distracted drivers and 20 percent of crashes resulted in injuries involving distracted driving.
If you have been injured by a distracted commercial driver, you may want to consider contacting a Missouri truck accident attorney who can help you determine your legal rights and get the compensation you deserve.
