Why Are Any Tractor-Trailers on the Road in a Blizzard Anyway?
By: Richard N. Shapiro, Attorney
It just so happens that during the December, 2009 major blizzard, I had planned a family ski trip to the Seven Springs ski resort in Pennsylvania, which required that I drive through Virginia, Maryland and then into Pennsylvania because the resort is just east of Pittsburgh.
About a foot and a half of snow fell on a Friday night and Saturday in late December as we attempted to drive on interstate highways north on Interstate 95 (I-95) and West on Interstate 66 (I-66) in Virginia. By Friday night it was well publicized that about a foot and a half of snow would fall and that you should only drive if absolutely necessary, and as we drove into Northern Virginia many trucks including tractor-trailers, 18 wheelers, and even some snow plows, had slid off the road due to the black ice and ice covered conditions as the temperature hovered around freezing. At times, I was surrounded by semi’s and big rigs and I wondered what in the world these huge tractor-trailers were doing trying to drive in the treacherous conditions. Only reason I was still on the road was because I had a four-wheel drive vehicle.
The tractor-trailer operators had no business being on an interstate highway with black ice and a foot and a half of snowy conditions. I did see a few tractor-trailers pulled off on the side of the road but for the most part the tractor-trailers were trying to make it to a destination and it was probably the dispatchers and the owners that were pushing the tractor-trailer operators. However, many independent tractor-trailer operators simply want to get home also.
The problem is that tractor-trailer operators have special duties that typical motorists do not have under what is called the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration oversees the operation of tractor-trailers, trucks, and buses operating on interstate highways.
The Federal motor carrier safety laws have special provisions relating to hazardous conditions. Section 392.14 states:
“Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by snow, ice, sleek, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke, adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed should be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated. Whenever compliance with the foregoing provisions of this rule increases hazard to passengers, the commercial motor vehicle may be operated to the nearest point at which the safety of passengers is assured.”
As can be seen, a part of the rule applies to passenger vehicles such as buses but other portions apply to all tractor-trailer operators.
During the mid-Atlantic blizzard of 2009 that I was essentially trapped on I-66, one delay was caused by a tractor-trailer that had jackknifed and slid on its side across all the lanes of the interstate highway. Hundreds of motorists like myself did not move for five hours during the blizzard and it was very fortunate that they were not serious injuries to the operators of cars in the vicinity of this jackknifed tractor-trailer.
In my personal situation, when we were able to move after five hours on the treacherous black ice and snow of this interstate highway, I saw tractor-trailer after tractor-trailer become disabled as its heavy cargo caused its multiple tires to bog down in the snow and ice even when they were simply crawling along at 5 mph. During this huge blizzard, many of the tractor-trailers simply cut off their engines and stayed put right where they had become disabled! Others simply slightly pulled off to the right and cut their engines off. In some situations, regular motor vehicles simply went around tractor-trailers that had cut their engines off right in the middle of the interstate highway. The bottom line was that under the Federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations, these tractor-trailers had no business ever getting on these interstate highways in the middle of black ice and blizzard conditions-they made a bad decision before they ever were on the interstate.
As an injury lawyer familiar with federal regulations applying to trucks and tractor-trailers, I can assure you that if any tractor-trailer was in an accident where it slid off the black ice or snow and caused any accident with personal injuries, the tractor-trailer operator would be found in violation of the applicable hazardous condition federal regulations by ever putting its tractor-trailer into gear and getting on the interstate highway during this particular blizzard.
I was not even happy to be on the road in my four-wheel drive vehicle but by operating my vehicle I was not knowingly violating any motor vehicle regulation! And the truth is I wasn’t really happy about driving on the interstate highway myself. The federal regulations require that tractor-trailer and truck operators be familiar with the current conditions, and when hazardous conditions make their travel and operation of their vehicles hazardous, they must exercise good judgment and pullover.
In this particular blizzard, every tractor-trailer operator who was on the road on Saturday, knew at least 24 hours before operating their tractor-trailer that the blizzard was coming, so there was no argument that they were facing sudden changing conditions.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.
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December 26, 2009
Tags: 18 wheelers, accident, big rigs, black ice, semis, snow, tractor-trailers, tractpr-trailer, winter, wreck Posted in: Virginia (VA) Trucking Injury/Accidents Topics
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