Federal Regulations Require Large Commercial Trucks to Use Emergency Flashers After an Accident to Prevent Secondary Accidents and Pileups
We all know that large commercial trucks can result in very serious personal injuries when they are involved in a motor vehicle accident. This is obvious from the sheer size of the vehicle and the momentum that must be disbursed when a tractor trailer collides with another object.
But large commercial trucks can also be very dangerous when they are blocking the road. This could be when a tractor trailer becomes disabled due to mechanical issues, or because the tractor trailer was involved in a motor vehicle accident. At nighttime or when visibility is limited, this could pose a danger to other motor vehicles on the roadway which could collide with the tractor trailer. This could cause a secondary accident resulting in new or worsened injuries. This could also result in pileup car accidents, which could injury and kill many people.
This is why federal regulations require large commercial trucks which are disabled or stopped on the roadway for reasons other than traffic must use their emergency flashers. This is governed by FMCSA section 392.22, which provides under subdivision (a) that a commercial trucking vehicle must use hazard warning signal flashers: “[w]henever a commercial motor vehicle is stopped upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder of a highway for any cause other than necessary traffic stops, the driver of the stopped commercial motor vehicle shall immediately activate the vehicular hazard warning signal flashers and continue the flashing until the driver places the warning devices . . . .”
Emergency Flashers are Required by Federal Regulations in Dust Storm Motor Vehicle Accidents
Dust storms are a weather condition where the visibility of all vehicles on the roadway are limited, even very large commercial trucks. This is why large commercial trucks which are disabled or involved in a motor vehicle on an interstate or highway must use their emergency flashers pursuant to federal regulations. The purpose is to prevent pileup car accidents in dust storms, which can quickly become deadly.
Here at the Mark Caruso, we represent the estate of a victim who would not have been killed if a truck driver used his emergency flashers like he was supposed to. During an ongoing dust storm, three commercial trucks continued to plow forward despite not being able to clearly see where they were going. This resulted in one tractor trailer rear-ending a passenger vehicle. The tractor trailer blocked a portion of the roadway and failed to use his emergency flashers to alert oncoming vehicles that he was blocked the roadway. This resulted in two additional passenger vehicles and two additional commercial trucks to collide and cause a large pileup accident. There was an explosion which resulted in a serious fire.
The three truck drivers were able to safely escape, however all seven occupants of the passenger vehicles burned to death in the fatal fire. The matter is now going before a jury by our experienced New Mexico trucking accident attorneys.
Where You or a Loved One Killed by a Commercial Truck Failing to Use its Emergency Flashers After an Accident? Call us today to protect your rights!
If a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a New Mexico trucking accident, contact the experienced trucking accident attorneys at the Mark Caruso today by dialing (505) 407-0458. You can also contact us on our website through the easy to use and convenient Contact box located by clicking here.
