There are many vehicles on the roads in and around Houston every day. There are also different types of vehicles on the roads. People may drive sedans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, motorcycles, delivery vans, tractor-trailer trucks and other types of vehicles. The drivers of these various vehicles all must obey many of the same traffic laws though. These include obeying speed limits, signaling their turns, yielding when needed and other laws designed to keep all drivers on the roads safe.
However, tractor-trailer drivers have additional rules which they must follow. Tractor-trailer trucks are so much larger than the other vehicles on the road and can cause significant damage to the other vehicles on the road when they are in accidents. So, to help prevent truck accidents from happening the drivers must follow additional safety rules. One of these of these additional safety rules is that truck drivers have limitations on how much they can drive each day and each week.
Hours of service laws
When drivers are drowsy it can be very dangerous and this is especially so for truck drivers. To prevent this, drivers can only drive 11 hours in a day after having at least 10 hours off. Those 11 hours must be completed within a 14-hour time period as well. They can also only drive for eight consecutive hours without taking at least a 30-minute break. Drivers can only drive 60 hours total in a seven-day period or 70 hours in an eight-day period. They must take at least 34 hours off before starting the next seven or eight-day work week.
Not all drivers in Houston follow these laws though for a variety of reasons or may just be tired for other reasons. This can lead to accidents and other drivers can suffer serious injuries. These injuries can require significant medical treatment and sometimes people never fully recover from them. So, in addition to the physical hardships the victims can experience financial hardships as well. They may be able to recover compensation for these damages though and consulting with experienced attorneys could be beneficial.