Preventing Truck Accidents
Truck crashes are lethal, and, not surprisingly, it is most often not the truck driver who suffers the casualty. The death rate for passengers of vehicles involved in truck crashes is five times greater than for truck drivers.
The trucking industry is heavily monitored to ensure legislated safety practices are enforced. For example, a commercial trucker cannot drive for more than 70 hours per week and must take a 30-minute break after the first 8 hours of driving.
Recent regulations enacted by the Department of Transport are expected to save 19 lives and prevent approximately 1,400 crashes per year by merely regulating driver rest periods.