Personal Injury Blog - The Heller Law Firm

There may be an urgent need for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reduce the maximum work hours for truck drivers. According to preliminary statistics, the number of people killed in truck accidents in the year 2011 is likely to be higher than the number in 2010.

The trucking industry has been strongly opposed to any reduction in the work hours for truck drivers, from the current 11 hours to 10 hours in a 14-hour window. According to the industry, there is no need for any modification of the current work hour rules, because they seem to be working perfectly well, and have actually contributed to a decline in trucking accidents and deaths.

However, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Anne Ferro, preliminary data indicates that there has actually been an increase in truck accident fatalities this year. The number this year is likely to touch 4,000, compared to just over 3, 300 fatalities in truck accidents last year. Obviously, the trucking industry's argument that the 11-hour rule actually increases trucking safety, don't hold water.

Anne Ferro’s observation came during a congressional hearing into a final federal decision on the Hours of Service rule for truck drivers. While Los Angeles trucking accident lawyers strongly support a reduction in the maximum hours that a truck driver can drive consecutively, the trucking industry has resisted these proposals. The industry has been supported by several lawmakers too. Even if the number of truck accident fatalities in 2011 is higher than in 2010, this fact may have a limited influence on the final rule. That's because the number of truck accidents actually declined this year. The trucking industry is likely to take the ‘increased trucking safety’ argument, and run with it as it has been doing all along.

Virginia Tech has settled a wrongful death lawsuit by a family whose son, a student at the University, committed suicide. The settlement includes $200,000 to be paid to the family of Daniel Sun Kim, as well as a $100,000 scholarship fund that will be established in his name at the university.

On December 9, 2007, Kim was found in his car in a parking lot, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. According to friends, he had been talking about his intention of killing himself, and had even purchased a gun. One of his friends was concerned enough to inform university officials about Kim’s suicidal tendencies. The university was also informed that he had purchased a gun. When university officials questioned Kim however, he denied any plans for suicide.

Officials should have probed the matter further, especially when a university counselor recommended that Kim be brought in for discussion. Matters ended right there however, and the following month, Kim shot himself.

His family was never informed either about his suicidal tendencies, or the fact that the university had investigated him and his plans to kill himself. After he died, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Virginia Tech, claiming $4 million in damages, and alleging that the university should have followed its own protocols to intervene in his case.

Now, as part of the settlement, the university will establish a memorial plaque honoring Kim on campus. Virginia Tech will also adopt a new policy under which parents and guardians of children, who have suicidal tendencies, will be informed about their children's behavior.

No amount of compensation can ever make up for the loss of a loved one. However, a California wrongful death lawyer can help survivors of persons killed by the negligence of others to recover compensation that can lessen their financial strain.