To reduce supply chain backlogs, drivers as young as eighteen may soon be behind the wheel of a vehicle that weighs over 80,000 pounds. 
Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old, but an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease supply chain backlogs would let 18-to-20-year-old truckers drive outside their home states. The pilot program would screen the teens, barring any with driving impairment violations or traffic tickets for causing crashes. Initially, the program will run for up to three years. After the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration submits a safety report to Congress, lawmakers could expand the program.
Currently, the trucking industry is short about 80,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Association.
Truck Crash Injuries
We mentioned the excessive weight of a large truck above. All that weight increases the force in a truck wreck, leading to serious injuries like:

Broken Bones: Broken arm and leg bones are the most common broken bones in truck wreck cases. Arms and legs usually flail against dashboards and other solid objects. As a result, the excessive force usually crushes bones. It doesn’t just break them. Crushed bones are harder to address, for both doctors and physical therapists.
Severe Burns: Diesel fuel accounts for much of this weight. This substance burns at a different temperature than gasoline. Therefore, victims often suffer third-degree burns, which always require extensive skin grafts. Making matters worse, many victims are pinned beneath burning trucks until emergency responders can free them.
Head Injuries: Pretty much all large truck wrecks, even low-speed wrecks, cause head injuries. Low speed wrecks often cause whiplash, a head-neck injury that affects nerves in the cervical spine. High speed wrecks cause much more serious head injuries. These crashes cause the brain to slam against the insides of the skull.

The average catastrophic injury-related medical bill is over $100,000. To ease the financial pain these families feel, a Lexington personal injury attorney connects victims with top-notch doctors who defer their fees until the case is settled or otherwise resolved.
First Party Liability
A driver’s age usually doesn’t affect the duty of care in a negligence case. Typically, drivers have the same legal responsibility, whether they’ve been licensed fifteen minutes or fifteen years. 
Normally, truckers have a higher duty of care. The different speed limit for large trucks and passenger vehicles is a good example of this difference. Generally, the speed limit is about 10mph lower for large trucks. That’s because it’s very difficult to control these vehicles, even for experienced drivers.
Speaking of a higher speed limit, if truckers violate safety laws, like the speed limit law, and cause crashes, they could be responsible for car crash damages as a matter of law.
However, in most cases, a Lexington personal injury attorney must establish the other three prongs of an ordinary negligence claim, which are breach, cause, and damages.
A breach of duty is basically a lack of care. If Tony the trucker kept driving an extra ten minutes and thus violated HOS (hours of service) laws, he probably didn’t breach his duty of care. If he drove an hour past the limit, that’s different.
Cause is a connection between the breach and the damages. Normally, these damages must be tangible personal injury or property damage.
Third Party Liability
As mentioned, the medical bills in a truck injury claim could exceed $100,000. Additional economic losses include property damage and lost income. Moreover, fair compensation for emotional distress and other noneconomic losses is usually two or three times the economic losses.
Most individual drivers don’t have enough insurance to cover all these losses. So, third party liability theories, like respondeat superior, are very important in these cases. SHipping, transportation, and other responsible companies often have deep pockets.
Respondeat superior (let the master answer) employer liability claims in Kentucky usually have two basic prongs:

Employee: Owner-operators, independent contractors, and even unpaid volunteers are usually employees for negligence purposes. That’s because employers have some control over these drivers, in terms of things like cargo carried or route traveled.
Scope of Employment: If a driver is returning an empty truck to a garage off the clock, that driver is usually acting within the scope of employment. The employer benefits in some way, and that’s all that counts.

Most personal injury claims settle out of court. These resolutions typically benefit victim-plaintiffs. They give the parties more control over the outcome and also end cases sooner.
Injury victims are usually entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Lexington, contact the Goode Law Office, PLLC. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available. The post Feds Move Forward with Teen Big Rig Driver Program first appeared on Goode Law Office, PLLC.