Austin Personal Injury Law Blog

Texas drivers in Travis County and everywhere else take note: the next time you see a truck driver on the road, he or she may be at the end of an 11-hour shift.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently announced that it has decided not to change its 11-hour shift limit for truck drivers. The agency was under pressure from other government transportation agencies and some members of the public to lower the cap to 10-hour shifts, in the interest of protecting other drivers on the road from accidents.

The debate all came down to differences in perspective. Truck drivers needing to make a living in a struggling economy were opposed to the lowered cap in work hours, and those concerned about public safety - including those who have lost family members in accidents involving driver fatigue - felt that reducing their hours would make highway driving safer.

For the last 10 years, the National Safety Transportation Board (NSTB) has recommended limiting the use of "portable electronic devices" while driving. Last week, however, NSTB went one step further and recommended that states completely ban all drivers from using cell phones and devices used for texting. The ban would include all non-emergency calls, e-mails, and texting by drivers of all vehicles on the roads, including hands-free devices.

However, some states, such as Texas, are unlikely to follow the recommendations. Houston state representative Gary Elkins points out that trying to get the Texas legislature to pass a measure that completely restricts cell phone use would be difficult. Previous failed attempts by the Texas legislature to pass laws limiting cell phone use have shown that Texans are not interested in giving up their cell phones on the road, and Elkins says consequently that it's not a right the Texas government wants to take away.

In Texas and across the country, drunk driving carries criminal consequences when the blood-alcohol limit is above a certain cut-off point. For several years, that point, for adult drivers, has been 0.08 percent. The standard is different for commercial drivers, as well as for teenage drivers.

It needs to be better understood, however, what a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0/08 percent really means. It functions as a threshold intoxication level for criminal consequences. But it certainly doesn't imply that a blood-alcohol content reading below the cutoff is safe.

A better understanding of this fact will help shed light on the causes of many alcohol-related accidents.

A recent study published in Addiction, an academic journal, provided quantitative evidence that even consuming a relatively small amount of alcohol - one beer, for example - is statistically associated with an increased risk of injuries and death.

The study was done by two researchers at the University of California, San Diego. They used data from a database called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This database tracks car accident fatalities, with information about BAC in increments of 0.01 percent.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced an agreement last month to allow Mexican trucks to carry freight in the United States. Critics of the program immediately expressed safety concerns because Mexican trucks are not regulated as carefully as American trucks.

The critics included members of Congress. Representatives Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Duncan Hunter of California expressed doubt that U.S. regulators will be able to adequately inspect and monitor Mexican trucks. Those inspections, after all, are important in preventing truck accidents.

Mexican trucking companies who want to be in the program are required to submit an application to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. FMCSA administrator Anne Ferro says that agency will conduct a thorough inspection of each truck and truck driver seeking to participate.

This will include a review of drivers' records. Mexican drivers will also have to be in compliance with American limitations on the number of hours that drivers can spend on the road within given time periods.