The government may use the National Transportation Safety Board’s findings to justify more regulations on truckers passing through Mojave.

According to the report, Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez had been on duty for twenty-four consecutive hours when he lost his way in the predawn darkness about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and mistakenly drove his truck on train tracks before abandoning it in a panic. A few minutes later, a commuter train collided with the truck and derailed, killing the train engineer and injuring dozens of other people. The NTSB concluded that if the driver had been well-rested and his GPS navigation system had included tracks, the accident may not have occurred.

Currently, Mr. Sanchez-Ramirez faces vehicular manslaughter charges in Ventura County.

SMS Scores

Fatigued truck drivers are a hot-button issue right now, possibly because this issue shifts focus off the drivers and onto the shipping companies. If a drunk trucker causes an accident, almost everyone blames the driver, but if a fatigued trucker causes an accident, many people blame the company for making the driver work so long.

These regulations are usually incremental, so a 10-hour break this year becomes a 15-hour break next year, and so on. But since pro trucker Republicans are unlikely to expand these rules, inspectors may do the next best thing, which is strictly enforcing the rules on the books.

In addition to driver fatigue, the Safety Management System keeps track of:

· Speeding tickets,

· Crash history, and

· Equipment violations.

Since the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses law enforcement data to make the score, it is often inflated, and an attorney can fix that.

Getting Legal Help

The aggressive attorneys at Bigger & Harman, APC, are committed to giving individuals a voice when dealing with speeding and traffic tickets. Call today at 661-349-9300 or email attorney@markbigger.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve. En español, llame al 661-349-9755.