Following an unprecedented and tragic year of commercial bus accidents on the East Coast, Washington state has enacted new technology to monitor commercial vehicle drivers who are in violation of hours of service rules.
All commercial vehicles moving through the Washington State Patrol’s (WSP) weigh stations will be monitored through electronic screening, which will check the usual vitals like size and weight, but also others like safety data, registration documents, and how long the vehicle has been on the highway on any given day. A newly developed computer program utilized by the WSP will assist in verifying that driver logs are correct and that they’re not operating longer than permitted. Twelve automatic license plate scanners have been installed at important stations across the state that will read each vehicle’s plate and also take a picture of the truck. The new program lets WSP officials look at what time any truck moves past any of those twelve locations, while comparing it to the driver’s log.
During the last year, a number of commercial truck crashes were linked to driver fatigue. And among those, according to Trucking Info, eight drivers had fabricated their hour logs so they could operate more illegally. Using the new system this past August, 98 drivers received citations for falsifications to their logs over a 96 hour period. The drivers found in violation were also removed from service for as much as 10 hours. Drivers of commercial vehicles must adhere to strict safety standards due to the immense damage they may cause if negligent. If you’ve been injured in a Washington state commercial truck accident that you think was the fault of another driver, contact the contact the Washington commercial truck accident attorneys with Hardwick & Pendergast P.S. at 1(888) 228-3860 for a free consultation.
