Compared to passenger vehicles, the heavy truck manufacturing industry in the United States is virtually unregulated by the government.  Most of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) do not even apply to heavy trucks and the few that do, such as the requirement of having seat belts, have been passed over the strident objection of the manufacturers.  That is why the basic design of Class 8 tractors (commonly called 18-wheelers) has changed very little over the years and why hundreds of truck drivers die unnecessarily every year in foreseeable accidents – the manufacturers refuse to make safe trucks unless they are forced to and the government does not have the will to force them.

Claiming that their trucks are safe, manufacturers continue to design vehicles with huge fuel tanks made of thin gauge aluminum positioned side-saddle outside of the frame rails as far forward on the chassis as possible without any guarding or protection whatsoever.  Yet, there is a huge body of statistics based upon all of the fatal motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. over the past several decades that show that most impacts occur exactly where the fuel tanks are placed and that hundreds of truckers (and auto drivers) die every year in accidents in which fuel fed fires occur and fire is the most harmful event.  Car fires are a rarity nowadays but it is commonplace to hear about a tractor trailer fire shutting down a highway.

It’s not rocket science – cars are safer than trucks because of all of the FMVSS requirements that apply to cars but not trucks.  All passenger cars have fuel tanks that are positioned between the frame rails, but not a single heavy truck does.  All passenger cars have to be crash tested and crashworthy, but not a single heavy truck does.  Even school buses must have guarding around their fuel tanks, but heavy trucks do not.  The next time you are in a rental car shuttle bus or a train car, count the number of emergency exits – every window and several in the roof.  Yet, some heavy truck manufacturers still do not include emergency exits as standard equipment on their vehicle despite their knowledge of the risk of fire and mounting fire fatalities we see every year. 

 The defects are obvious:

    (1) unsafe fuel tank positioning
    (2) inadequate fuel tank guarding
    (3) oversized fuel tanks
    (4) inadequate tank materials
    (5) lack of emergency exits
    (6) inadequate crashworthiness (e.g., lack of rollover prevention and protection measures, poor occupant survival space, unsafe seats or seat belts). 

The alternative designs are just as obvious:

    (1) move the fuel tanks away from the danger zones (i.e., backward or inboard)
    (2) guard the fuel tanks like cars, buses and race cars do
    (3) make smaller tanks
    (4) make stronger tanks out of better materials
    (5) make multiple emergency exits standard equipment
    (6) crash test more trucks during the design phase and make changes to make them safer. 

But don’t hold your breath, these problems and their solutions have been around for years but truckers are still dying horrible deaths by the hundreds every year.

If you have been in an accident with a tractor trailer, or as the driver of one, and are looking for representation, contact us today at no charge to review your case and speak with an attorney experienced in this litigation. 

Here are a few representative cases we have handled at our firm:

Trucking accident and wrongful death due to lack of Emergency Exit

Fuel fed fire leads to death of trucker after escaping the tractor