How Financial Pressures Might Lead to More Dangerous Truck Accidents

PARIS, Texas. Federal hours of service laws limit how long truck drivers can operate a truck in a given day. The law acknowledges that fatigued drivers are more dangerous drivers. But lack of sleep is not the only way a driver can be fatigued. Drivers who get behind the wheel while sick with the flu or other virus can also be tired, fatigued, and not fully focused on the task at hand. When drivers are not feeling well, either due to lack of sleep or illness, the results can be deadly. Some of the medicines drivers take to ward off the symptoms of the flu, a cold, or other illness can make drivers less alert or sleepy behind the wheel. Poor sleep due to feeling sick can also impact a driver the next day. Truck accidents claim thousands of lives every year and injure many more. Truck drivers who are ill should take sick days, but many workers in today’s economy feel that they cannot afford to take sick days.

According to the OSHA, if a driver is too sick to operate a truck, companies need to permit them to take time off without retaliation. Yet, not all companies abide by this rule. In fact, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a company was compelled to compensate a truck driver when he was fired for taking time off due to illness. Even when companies are required to give truck drivers time off for illness, these drivers may not always be paid for the time they take off. According to the New York Times, as many as 45 percent of American workers don’t have paid sick leave. Workers may choose to work through their illnesses because they cannot afford to miss a day or two of lost pay, especially in today’s economy where many workers work paycheck to paycheck. Ultimately, truck companies have a responsibility to encourage workers to take time off if they are ill.

With workers fearing taking time off, is there anything companies can do to protect truck drivers and ensure that when they get behind the wheel, they are alert, safe, and ready to drive? Compensating truck drivers for their sick days could be one way to encourage workers to take the time they may need to heal. Truck companies should also make drivers aware of the risks of taking certain types of cold medicines, cough suppressants, and other prescription drugs while ill.

When truck companies fail to compensate workers for sick days or threaten to fire them for taking needed time off to heal, these companies put the safety of the general public at risk. If you have been hurt in a truck accident in Paris, Texas, the Cooper Law Firm are truck accident attorneys who may be able to investigate some of the possible causes of your accident. For example, our firm can closely review company policy to see whether workers are given time off for sick days. We can investigate whether a truck driver might have been ill or might have been taking medicines that could have impacted his or her ability to drive. Ultimately, truck companies have a responsibility to put the safety of the general public first. When companies fail to do this, they should be held accountable. The Cooper Law Firm are Paris, Texas truck accident lawyers who fight to hold negligent truck companies accountable when their actions result in injury. Lawsuits are one way the public can encourage greater responsibility on the part of the truck industry.

Cooper Law Firm
501 N Third St,
Longview, TX 75601
Telephone: (903) 297-0037