Advocating for Highway Safety – Truck Accident Litigation

As the Chairman of Ohio’s Trucking Litigation Section of the Ohio Association for Justice, I put together an all-day Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar entitled, “Advocating for Highway Safety - Truck Accident Litigation.”   As the Moderator for the seminar, I was able to assemble some of our country’s finest national truck crash litigation attorneys.   The day’s program clearly demonstrated that a truck collision resulting in a wrongful death and/or personal injury cannot be litigated the same as an ordinary car crash.

The forty-plus attorneys in attendance learned about the complexities of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the new enforcement of the regulations, known in the industry as the CSA (Compliance, Safety, and Accountability).   Personal injury lawyers also learned how to look for and find a trucking company’s safety score, use the Federal rules and use the Ohio Commercial Driver License (CDL) Handbook to perform a comprehensive cross examination of both a trucking company’s safety director and negligent truck driver.

My lecture topic was entitled “The Cost of a Truck Accident - Profit vs. Safety.”  I argued that while competition within the trucking industry is fierce, a smart  trucking company will not sacrifice safety in an attempt squeeze every drop of profit out of their margins.  A trucking company that has patterns of safe behavior will actually be able to use their favorable CSA safety rating score as a marketing tool to recruit and retain safe truck drivers and demonstrate reliability to future customers and brokers.  I further demonstrated how both direct and indirect costs associated with a truck collision can truly a cripple trucking company’s bottom-line.

Attendees had the opportunity to see a live demonstration of an Inspection of a real 18-wheeler.  I specifically want to thank Driver James J. Popik, Jr. for bringing his 1987 Kenworth semi-tractor and refrigerated trailer to provide a practical experience for attendees that further emphasized the complexities involved in truck safety.

I want to thank all those who spoke and attended the seminar.  Each of you can hold your head high as Trial Lawyers who are truly Advocates for Highway Safety.  I am more than happy to share the seminar materials from my speech and any other knowledge I can provide to any attorney handling truck accident cases and/or victims who have been involved in a truck crash.  Please feel free to email me at ayoung@nphm.com or call me direct at 216-694-5218.

Authored by: Andrew R. Young, Chair of the Trucking Litigation Section, Ohio Association For Justice / Truck Accident Attorney / Licensed Class A, Commercial Drivers License

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