Trucking Shoulder Accidents and Safety Protocols

Stopping on the side of the road, especially on the highway, is inherently dangerous. In 2022, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 40% of fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred on interstate highways. When a vehicle is stopped in a high-speed area, there is a risk of danger, especially during bad weather or at night. Traveling at high speeds decreases the reaction time of drivers and often leads to large swerves to try to avoid a crash.

Semi-trucks stopped on the shoulder of the road pose a large issue as they take up much of the shoulder, and sometimes, take up space in the lane. Federal and state law enforce strict guidelines on lighting and emergency triangle use in an attempt to give drivers in oncoming traffic a heads-up on the stopped vehicle ahead.

Given the severity of trucking accidents, there are strict safety regulations required by drivers when they need to pull over to the shoulder of the road, and when it is in operation. State and federal guidelines subject to lighting and emergency triangles are in effect to allow for maximum visibility of a semi-truck pulled over on the roadway. The binding law in the Code of Federal Regulations is 49 CFR 392.22, which outlines regulations for stopped commercial motor vehicles.

The Reason to Be Stopped

When the driver of a large truck stops, the reason matters when deciding to employ emergency signals. If the driver is stopped for traffic reasons like congestion, a red light, or police direction, no emergency signals need to be employed. If the driver stops because of vehicle troubles, a load check, fatigue, or anything not related to traffic, they are required to employ their emergency signals.

It is important that these four-way flashers are in operation. In broad daylight, the vehicle may be visible, but oncoming traffic is not expecting a vehicle to be stopped near the roadway. Flashing lights give drivers up to five hundred feet away a warning of the hazard ahead. Further, during nighttime or bad weather, visibility is low, so flashing red lights are helpful aids to notify oncoming traffic of the stopped semi-truck.

Federal Regulations 49 CFR 392.22

As there are various reasons for a stop, anything not traffic-related requires the use of four-way flashers and reflective emergency triangles. The driver must activate hazard warning signal flashers and put out three reflective triangles as soon as possible, but at least within ten minutes of being stopped.

Simply putting on flashers and emergency reflective triangles signals to oncoming traffic that there is a hazard, and they should stay within their lane to ensure they do not collide with the stopped commercial vehicle.

The truck driver should keep the flashers on until they place the emergency triangles around their vehicle. They should continue using the flashers when putting said triangles away. One triangle should be placed about ten feet from the commercial vehicle on the traffic side in the direction approaching traffic, so the reflectors are visible. The second emergency triangle should be placed about one hundred feet behind the commercial vehicle on the shoulder facing traffic. The third and last triangle should be placed one hundred feet in front of the commercial vehicle, which should be facing away from approaching traffic.

Trucks only equipped with liquid-burning flares follow the same rules as those with emergency triangles. They place one lit flare at the same locations as the triangles and keep them lit for as long as they are stopped. But if the commercial vehicle is experiencing any type of leak and is only equipped with liquid flares, they should not use the flares, as they can cause a fire.

If a commercial vehicle is stopped within five hundred feet of a hill, curve, or any type of obstruction of view from oncoming traffic, the warning devices should be placed one hundred to five hundred feet away from the vehicle to provide visibility to oncoming traffic. If the roadway is divided or a one-way, two emergency triangles should be placed toward oncoming traffic and one in the rear of the vehicle on the traffic side.

Regardless of night or day, when a commercial vehicle is stopped, the driver is required by law to employ hazard lighting and emergency triangles or flares.

Required Equipment

Under 49 CFR 393.95, a commercial vehicle must be equipped with three bidirectional reflective triangles (FMVSS 125), or six fusees or three liquid-burning flares, plus extras as needed to satisfy placement rules.

Lighting

Many commercial trucks operate during dark or nighttime hours. Proper lighting in low-light conditions is essential for the safety of the driver and others on the road. As there are different models and sizes of commercial vehicles, simple headlight and taillight rules are not adequate. The Department of Transportation has commercial vehicle lighting rules motor carriers must follow.

DOT vehicles are required to have:

• Dual license plate lights in white
• Two rear stop lights in red
• Side marker lights in amber at the front and rear corners of the trailer
• Reflectors on every corner
• Two turn signal lights in amber
• A clearance light on both sides of the trailer

No load or design should prohibit the visibility of any of the required lighting above. All lights should be working, bright, and visible from at least five hundred feet away from the truck.

For vehicles that are eighty inches or six and a half feet in width, they must include side markers and reflectors. The side markers must be amber, and reflectors must be white or red. Unlike the lights, they must be visible from at least fifty feet.

According to 49 CFR 393.11, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require tractor-trailers to have standard operational lighting. Meaning, there must be working headlamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, turn signal lamps, clearance lamps, side-marker lamps, and reflex reflectors. All lights need to be placed properly, depending on the vehicle model and width. Such lighting must meet the standard outlined in 49 CFR 571.108.

It is very important that commercial vehicles have the proper lighting and reflective tape. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a technical report on the effectiveness of retroreflective tape on heavy trailers. The NHTSA found that reflective tape prevents 7,800 crashes per year, which saves hundreds of lives and prevents thousands of injuries.

Inspections

DOT requires annual inspections for vehicles over ten thousand pounds. The light system is tested on the following features:

• Turn signals
• Brake lighting
• License plate lamps
• Fog Lights
• Headlights
• Marker Lights

The driver of the truck is required to conduct pre-trip inspections of their load and vehicle, as well as post-trip inspections. This inspection includes checking lighting.

If a vehicle operator fails to complete either inspection, they are placing themselves and others on the road in an unsafe position, which constitutes as negligence.

Best Practices of Drivers

As the drivers of commercial vehicles are required to go through rigorous training to ensure they can properly operate their vehicles, there are some good practices that they should, but are not required to, follow, especially when pulling onto the shoulder of the road.

1. Pull off onto the shoulder, away from the road as much as possible, and turn the wheels away from traffic. As these vehicles are very large, there is a possibility that the truck is in traffic while stopped. If the vehicle is in the roadway, it causes a huge hazard to oncoming traffic, as they are not expecting a non-moving vehicle in the middle of the road.
2. If conditions are unsafe, it is important to stay in the cab and call 911 or roadside assistance. For example, if the person is stopped for a load check and there is heavy, fast-moving traffic, they should wait in their vehicle until it is safe to conduct the load check.
3. Wear a high-visibility vest. As oncoming traffic is not expecting a non-moving vehicle on the highway, they are not expecting a person in the roadway. Having clothing on that reflects against the light makes a figure easier to identify.
4. Avoid standing between the truck and traffic. Try to stay on the safe side of the truck, as oncoming traffic is fast and not expecting a person to be in the roadway or near it.

Insufficient Parking Space

In 2023, there was a fatal Greyhound bus crash that killed three people and injured twelve. A Greyhound bus was exiting Interstate 70 in Springfield, Illinois, when it hit three semitrailers parked on the shoulder of the road. The first issue was the illegal parking. The trucks were parked illegally on a rest stop entrance and exit ramp, but the ban is not enforced seriously because of the insufficient parking for truck drivers.

There are thirteen million trucks on America’s roads, but not enough parking to support their rest hours. To support this further, the driver of the Greyhound bus was cited because of his fatigue while driving. But the three semi-trucks did not have any lighting or emergency triangles to indicate that they were stopped on the shoulder.

All in all, truck driving is very unsafe as the people operating the vehicles are not obtaining rest times, which leads to fatal crashes and injuries. Further, is it important to have lighting on vehicles not only parked in a location where drivers may not anticipate it to be, but in general.

Key Importance of Lighting Standards

As large semi-trucks and trailers dominate the road, guidelines and requirements set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are made with purpose.

Enhanced Visibility:

• For the safety of the driver and others on the road, working headlights, side load lights, and taillights need to be operational. In broad daylight, a semi-truck may be visible, but in fog, rain, or dusk, the truck may be difficult to see. The purpose of the red lights and markers is to be visible in such weather conditions. The white light can sometimes get lost in fog or mist, but red light can penetrate through such conditions.

Indication of Size:

• Semi-trucks can vary in size based on their loads. The clearance markers and lights are helpful to drivers driving alongside or near a semi-truck to ensure a safe clearing distance when switching lanes or turning near a semi-truck.

Accident Prevention:

• All in all, the more lighting and reflectors, the better. It’s similar to when you’re driving on the road, and a car passes you without its lights on at nighttime. You may have seen them up close, but not five hundred feet away. Now, instead of a sedan, imagine a two-ton load without any lighting, driving sixty miles per hour on the highway at night. With any vehicle, but especially those of the size of semi-trucks and trailers, they must abide by the rules mandated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Penalties

Truck drivers who fail to abide by the mandated regulations set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can face penalties. If a driver’s turn signals, license plate lights, taillights, or headlights are not performing as they should, the driver should anticipate being pulled over for such a violation.

• Lighting violations can come with court fines from $50 to $250 and up to six points on the driver’s driving record.

In Ohio, when a driver has accumulated twelve points on their standard license within two years, they receive a six-month suspension for both the standard license and the CDL trucking license.

• For a defective or failing headlight or taillight, the driver could be penalized for two to four demerit points.

According to Overdrive Magazine, Ohio is ranked number five as one of the toughest states on lighting violations. Lighting violations make up 22% of Ohio’s written infractions for heavy-weight vehicles.

As there are strict guidelines to drive a semi-truck or trailer, there are strict guidelines to keep them up and running safely on the roadway. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has worked to make safe mandated rules and regulations relating, but not limited to, the lighting and warning precautions required while driving and stopping a heavy hauling vehicle. Proper lighting and warning triangles are required for the purpose of keeping all drivers safe. In Ohio, we value upholding such regulations, but accidents still occur.

Negligence of Others

The importance of lighting and emergency triangles is to make your vehicle visible to oncoming and moving traffic. Our office has had numerous cases where our client has been pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and been hit by oncoming traffic, even when our client has taken the proper steps to express caution.

For instance, our office had a case where our client was driving a tractor-trailer and pulled onto the shoulder of the road because of engine trouble. The defendant in the case was driving an oversized load, failed to see the four-way flashers employed by our client, and collided with him. As our client was under the vehicle at the time, he was thrown into the nearby ditch and experienced life-altering injuries.

There are many precautions to try to avoid such collisions. But they do occur, and one case has left our client with extreme anxiety and physical disabilities.

Even when you are abiding by all of the rules by expressing caution with lights and emergency triangles, it is possible that someone can collide with you and your vehicle when parked on the shoulder. It is important that you have an expert team of attorneys at Charles E. Boyk Law Offices that can assist you in this unfair occurrence. If you ever find yourself in the position after a truck accident, your duty is to heal and try to get to health before the accident. While you are focusing on recovery, our lawyers can be at work finding the best solution for such negligence. Our office’s Trucking Injury lawyers at Charles Boyk Law are experienced professionals at investigating and providing proper compensation based on your case.