On behalf of Ludwar Law Firm posted in Truck Accidents on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Some truck accidents are caused by the weather, and others are caused by mechanical failures, such as the brakes going out while the truck is going down a hill. In cases like this, there may not be much a driver can do to prevent the crash. However, those are a very small percentage of the total. Reports have found that as many as 90 percent of the crashes actually happen because of human error. Drivers make mistakes, and it can lead to injuries and death. In fact, Transport Canada became part of the Human Factors and Motor Carrier Safety Task Force back in 2008 – it ran until 2011 – to address this specific issue. They wanted to create new, effective strategies that could be implemented to combat these human errors. The goal of the task force was to study the incidents that happened and develop strategies based on their findings. In the end, the group looked at more than 500 documents and came up with a list of 50 various recommendation that could help. Of these, many fell into three main categories: driver distraction, driver fatigue and high-risk driving. For example, distracted driving could mean using a cellphone while driving or turning to talk to another person in the cab. High-risk driving could simply mean breaking the speed limit in order to get the job done faster or going too fast for conditions. Driver fatigue most often sets in when drivers are overworked and stay behind the wheel for more than eight hours in a row. Know what rights you may have to compensation when an accident in Alberta is caused by human error. Source: Transport Canada, "Motor Carrier Safety Research," accessed April. 23, 2015