Commercial vehicles are a common sight on Florida roads, specifically buses. People travel to and from work and shops on city buses. Other buses transport people from one part of the state to another, for business or pleasure purposes. However, it is important that commercial vehicles be driven with care. This is because the large size of commercial vehicles makes any accident involving one potentially catastrophic.
There are many reasons why an accident could occur. One common reason is driver fatigue. Drivers of commercial vehicles often spend many hours on the road and may be given a financial incentive for reaching their destination quickly. Because many commercial vehicle accidents are due to driver fatigue, the U.S. has regulations dictating when a driver must rest.
First, a passenger-carrying driver is only permitted to operate their vehicle for up to 10 hours following eight consecutive hours off duty. In addition, they must stop driving after being on duty for 15 hours, following eight consecutive hours of rest. Also, passenger-carrying drivers are not permitted to operate their vehicles after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 days in a row. Finally, if a driver chooses to rest in a sleeper berth, they must do so for a minimum of eight hours, although they can split this time into two periods of at least two hours each.
These regulations are in place to keep our roads safe, but, unfortunately, there will always be drivers who ignore these rules and wind up causing an accident. If a person is injured in a commercial vehicle accident, they will want to make sure they understand what their legal options are.
