* Ohio - A feud over trucks, crashes, insurance and devastation
-- It's truckers versus trial lawyers -- and the truckers sure aren't happy... The federal government is considering making commercial truck drivers or their employers raise the minimum amount of insurance they must carry. The $750,000 minimum insurance under federal law has not changed in 30 years... Most truck drivers will never cause a devastating crash. And although $750,000 is the minimum -- per incident, not per person -- under federal law, most truckers actually carry liability policies of $1 million, according to the trucking and insurance industries. The legal minimum goes up for trucks carrying hazardous cargo, topping out at $5 million... As for how rare those claims are, both sides use numbers most favorable to their cases... Prime Property & Casualty said that FMCSA data indicate that the average cost of an accident involving a truck was $167,832 in 2009... But the percentages can be misleading by overly minimizing the problem, attorneys say... Out of roughly 400,000 trucking accidents a year, 80,000 to 100,000 involve injuries, said Michael Jay Leizerman, a Toledo-based attorney who founded the Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, and about 4,000 of the accidents result in deaths, said Leizerman. And nearly all of the 4,000 deaths each year will result in claims that exceed the $750,000 limits, he said in an interview... When a truck driver or his employer lacks that kind of coverage, the injured party often has to settle for $750,000 or $1 million and get a court judgment for the rest. But a judgment can't squeeze money out of nothing, although it can lead to a small trucker's bankruptcy or financial ruin... Truckers opposing an increase say that higher insurance premiums, not judgments, are what will force them off the road. The comments show a lack of consensus on just how high premiums would go. But numerous truckers say it would hurt them -- and help the trial lawyers... The FMCSA says it will review the comments and decide how to proceed. It has set no deadline -- which may bode well for the trucking industry, says Dave Osiecki, a senior vice president and head of legislative affairs at the American Trucking Associations... "I don't think it's going to happen, but even if it does, it will take many, many years," Osiecki said...
SOME COMMENTS about:
1 - Waz1 said: "I have no problem with them raising the insurance requirements, but how about finding a way to cap the percentage of attorney's fees PI attorney's can take as well to say 25%. 33% to 50% is way too much. They are no better than the payday lenders - taking advantage of the disadvantaged."
2 - eriekayaker said : "Yes, car drivers are responsible for 75 percent of the truck-car accidents. In those cases, the truck driver has nothing to worry about. But the problem is that an 80,000 lb. truck can cause much more damage than a 4000 lb. car."
3 - Hegemon said : "Rather than blathering on about what a safe driver you are lets instead focus on your insurance. Physics aside, the minimum insurance you carry for your vehicle in Ohio is $100,000. Is that anywhere near what it needs to be for your vehicle traveling down a highway at 70 mph?. If the truck driver needs to have ten million then surely you should have a minimum of 1 million because in your own words "could your family get by on $750,000"
4 - ColumbusGuy94 said: "Because it isn't. And yes, trucks can cause plenty of death and destruction. But they have at least $750,000 worth of coverage. Cars can do the same and are only required to carry $25k worth of coverage. Also, no matter what the argument may be, there is no way that anyone can convince me that personal injury attorneys are in any way respectable people."
(Photo by Gary Crow/Associated Press - The scene of a multiple-vehicle accident on Interstate 44 in Oklahoma, where eight people were killed in 2009 when a tractor-trailer slammed into a line of cars stopped in traffic) - Cleveland,OH,USA -The Ohio Media Group -10 March 2015
* Ohio - A clampdown on big trucks?
-- Long-haul truckers are under the gun to make good time while following laws and regulations -- and sharing highways with drivers who don't always appreciate the big rigs... In Ohio, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban big trucks from the left lane of any highway that has at least two other lanes available in the same direction... The idea of the bipartisan House bill is to keep tractor-trailers, or any vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds, from hogging every lane and slowing other traffic...
(Photo by Peggy Turbett/The Plain Dealer - Some Ohio lawmakers want to restrict large trucks to the right two lanes if three lanes are available) - Washington, DC, USA - Northeast Ohio Media Group, by Stephen Koff - March 10, 2015Labels: rules and regulations
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home