In September, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance held its Brake Safety Week inspection blitz in New Jersey and across North America. The alliance reports that inspectors ended up pulling just over 14 percent of inspected trucks from service during the initiative.
Overall, CVSA inspectors looked at 35,080 commercial trucks all across the U.S. and Canada. Of those trucks, 4,955 had brake issues serious enough for them to be placed out of service. One focus area for inspectors involved checking that trucks required to have antilock braking systems actually had them and that the systems were properly maintained.
According to the CVSA, inspectors looked at 26,143 air-braking trucks that were required to have antilock brakes. Of those, 2,176 had ABS violations. Inspectors also examined 17,857 trailers that were required to have ABS. Of those, 2,224 had ABS-related violations. Inspectors also checked out 5,354 hydraulic-braking trucks that were required to have ABS. Of those, 234 had violations involving ABS. In 2017, CVSA conducted a one-day brake safety initiative. The percentage of trucks pulled from service during that event was almost identical to the percentage pulled during this year’s weeklong initiative.
Truck accidents can cause catastrophic injuries to victims riding in passenger vehicles. As a result, truck crash victims often spend weeks or months in the hospital undergoing expensive medical treatments. In order to recover their financial losses, some victims may need to file personal injury lawsuits against the at-fault parties. If a lawsuit is successful, a victim could be awarded a financial settlement that covers medical expenses, wages lost during recovery, pain and suffering and more. An attorney could assess a victim’s case and explain all legal options available.