Driver Facing Cam Question

If your accident is severe enough, you are going to jail, so lawsuits do not matter.

it basically comes down to, if you arent going to ensure the safety of the public and drive defensively, dont get a CDL.

I will never forget one poster who constantly complained about idiots on the road and "i want more speed so when they try to pass me, i can stop them".

why? slow down, let them fly by and be done with them. if you keep a cushion od space arou d you at all times your accident potential is greatly diminished. i have put my hazards on and slowed down to minimum speed limits of 45 on interstates to make them pass me.

my company doesn't use cameras but has a "200 worst drivers" list. determined by critical events, tickets and accidents. some of them are now getting forward facing cameras.

There is also a lot of evidence that being watched makes people perform their job to much higher standards. Everyone says you shouldn't text or be distracted by your phone while you're driving, and yet you can't spend 15 minutes on the highway without seeing it happen, and oftentimes it's tractor trailers! Hardly a day goes by that I don't see a big rig swerving in his lane or wandering off onto the shoulder, obviously distracted with something in the cab. We all see it on a daily basis.

Knowing you're being monitored is going to change your driving habits for the better. It will for anyone.

I agree with the others - the cameras should be no concern. If a driver can't do his job well enough to do it while being monitored during an event that triggers the driver facing camera then that driver shouldn't be entrusted with the lives of innocent people and the ultimate responsibility that goes with handling an 80,000 pound building on wheels.

I also very much doubt that a law firm is going to go after a lowly truck driver instead of the big bucks they can get from going after the heavily insured trucking company with a large base of assets.

We have had drivers fired for texting and driving distracted because even though we do not have driver facing cams the forward facing cam pics up the reflection on the windshield.

A couple weeks ago my student had a cam event when he broke hard to avoid a cow on the road and I got in a little trouble because I had sat down to smoke a cig (I have a no smoking in the sleeper rule) and it saw the reflection of my phone on the windshield. I was logged in the sleeper berth at the time.

even though we do not have driver facing cams the forward facing cam pics up the reflection on the windshield

Whoa!!!! I hadn't considered that and I don't think most others would have either. That's very interesting.

When my dad worked at Con-way they had a driver who was involved in a fatal accident the 2 people who survived in the car he hit swore up and down that they saw him on the phone. So they where suing both the company and the drivers family for his life insurance.

When they checked the in cab camera they see he was not on the phone and in fact did nothing wrong.

Infact they said more often than not it clears the company driver, saving both the company and driver from being sued.

Bobcat Bob wrote:

When my dad worked at Con-way they had a driver who was involved in a fatal accident the 2 people who survived in the car he hit swore up and down that they saw him on the phone. So they where suing both the company and the drivers family for his life insurance.

When they checked the in cab camera they see he was not on the phone and in fact did nothing wrong.

Infact they said more often than not it clears the company driver, saving both the company and driver from being sued.

Absolutely correct, and agree 100%. Had in-cab activities not been recorded, who do you think the jury would have believed?

All you Newbies reading this...unfortunately there is the presumption of guilt that falls directly into the truck driver’s lap. Anything available (technology) to clear us of even the slightest wrongdoing, should be embraced, not feared.

So I did a little research and found my answers. If you're at fault in an accident and there's visual proof you were even slightly distracted, financial liability shifts from the insurance company and motor carrier, to you. Even taking a sip of soda could financially ruin you for life.

https://www.wpmhlegal.com/Commercial-Trucking-Accidents/Who-Is-Liable-in-a-Truck-Accident-Lawsuit.shtml

That is clearly from a PI law firm looking to retain individuals for whom they can go after big bad trucking companies, drivers and other 3rd parties. Local firm recently started TV ads for same.

I think we are just being viewed as the next big easy target.

Not saying anything about the content or merits of a particular case, but really? "Paying drivers by the mile" and the driver speeding? So they are planning on taking on the industry's primary method of compensation? In 90% of the accidents the driver of the car is at fault... not the professional driver. Just going after the deep pockets.

Do we need an additional insurance policy to be protected? Can new drivers get and afford one?

think we are just being viewed as the next big easy target

There is no next to it. Trucking companies have been targets for a while.

Drivers aren't a target at all. Yes we get listed in the suits, but our pockets are not deep enough for the lawyers to care about us.

think we are just being viewed as the next big easy target

There is no next to it. Trucking companies have been targets for a while.

Drivers aren't a target at all. Yes we get listed in the suits, but our pockets are not deep enough for the lawyers to care about us.

Yeah. That sounds more accurate!

Big Trucks = Big $$$.