The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the federal agency in charge of regulating the commercial truck industry and other commercial vehicles, such as buses. The FMCSA reports data regarding truck accidents, injuries, and fatalities every year. In 2011, approximately 73,000 truck or bus accident victims suffered injury and an additional 3,568 were killed. That number is on the rise. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently reported that fatalities in large commercial truck accidents have risen approximately 4 percent since last year. The surviving families of these truck accident victims deserve to receive compensation for the loss of their loved one. Such compensation can help the family cover medical bills, expenses, and lost wages if the deceased was a bread winner. Experienced Fayette County truck accident lawyer Shane Smith can help you and your family recover if you have lost a loved one in a truck accident by filing a wrongful death claim.
The FMCSA denies that there should be concern regarding the truck accident fatality statistics. On the contrary, the FMCSA states that the trucking industry has only been made safer since the agency instituted stricter policies and regulations for truck drivers and companies. However, despite these regulations, truck accidents seem to be getting more serious and causing more deaths. Clearly, there are still issues in the commercial truck industry that need to be ironed out. The FMCSA stated it has plans to increase the safety of trucks even more through legislation and education. However, until truck driver and companies decide to fully comply with all laws and training programs, there is still a significant risk of truck accident deaths.
Even though the FMCSA has enacted stricter regulations for the commercial trucking industry, it must continue to look into the possible reasons why the number of truck accident fatalities continues to climb. Until then, if you have lost a loved one in a trucking accident, you should be able to seek justice for your lost family member by holding the truck driver or truck company liable for their actions. Call a truck accident attorney at Shane Smith Law at (980) 246-2656 today.