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Exhausted truck drivers pose a serious threat on New Mexico highways, causing devastating crashes when they fall asleep at the wheel or operate with impaired judgment. Federal regulations limit driving hours to prevent these preventable tragedies, yet many trucking companies pressure drivers to violate safety rules to meet tight delivery deadlines.
Dominguez Law has secured over $30 million in settlements and verdicts for injury victims across New Mexico since 2012. Our Albuquerque truck accident attorneys understand how to prove driver fatigue violations through logbook analysis, electronic logging device data, and witness testimony to maximize your compensation after a serious trucking accident. If you have been injured by a fatigued truck driver, understanding your rights under New Mexico trucking accident law is critical for your recovery.
Truck driver fatigue occurs when commercial drivers operate vehicles after excessive hours without rest, leading to slower reaction times, impaired judgment, and microsleeps that cause devastating crashes across New Mexico highways. Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of truck accidents in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas. Because truck drivers are faced with strict deadlines, some choose to stay on the road for extended hours, ignoring state and federal regulations regarding rest breaks and other requirements. When a tired truck driver causes a collision, victims often suffer catastrophic injuries.
Attorney Paul Dominguez helps victims injured by negligent truck drivers and the companies employing them. Our firm offers knowledgeable legal guidance to truck accident victims and their families by ensuring that the necessary evidence is collected and the responsible parties are held liable for the harm they caused. We handle truck driver fatigue cases throughout Albuquerque, Los Ranchos, and all of New Mexico.
Attorney Paul Dominguez helps victims injured by negligent truck drivers and the companies employing them. Our firm offers knowledgeable legal guidance to truck accident victims and their families by ensuring that the necessary evidence is collected and the responsible parties are held liable for the harm they caused.
Because of their sheer size and mass, trucks are complex vehicles to operate. As a result, they require drivers to possess specialized skills and licenses in order to make sure they are properly controlled. In any case, even without considering the skills it takes to operate a truck, drivers should not be operating the vehicle when exhausted. When a truck driver is fatigued, their response time is delayed, and their judgment may be impaired.
The interstate trucking industry is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which sets out requirements regarding drivers in order to prevent fatigue. Under FMCSA regulations, truck drivers must adhere to the following regulations:
Tired drivers have slower reaction times, impaired judgment, and lower awareness levels, all of which can lead to significant collisions. In fact, the FMCSA released a study indicating that 13 percent of commercial drivers involved in truck accidents were determined to be fatigued when the crash occurred. . This statistic underscores the serious danger fatigued truck drivers pose to other motorists on New Mexico roadsAdded: Connecting statistic to local context with NLP entity language.
When a truck driver decides to remain behind the wheel for more than the number of hours allowable or skips necessary breaks, they should be held accountable for any resulting collisions and injuries. Failing to adhere to state or federal trucking regulations, leading to fatigue, can signify the negligence necessary to prevail in a personal injury lawsuit. Victims injured by a tired driver must prove that the driver breached the duty to act as a reasonable and prudent person would act given the circumstances, that breach caused the injuries to the victim, and damages were incurred as a result.
For instance, if a truck driver falls asleep behind the wheel after driving for 20 hours and strikes another vehicle, the driver could be found to have acted unreasonably, and therefore, negligently. Additionally, a trucking company can also be held liable for the negligence of its employee. If the driver was acting within the scope of their employment at the time of a collision, such as when a driver continues to drive in order to make a delivery on time, the employer-trucking company may also be held responsible. Our wrongful death attorneys can help families pursue justice when truck driver fatigue leads to fatal crashes.
If negligence is apparent, a victim may receive compensation to pay for any past or future medical expenses, loss of income, or diminished earning capacity, as well as compensation for pain and suffering. In the devastating event that truck driver fatigue leads to a fatality, family members may pursue a wrongful death claim in order to receive compensation for burial or funeral costs, as well as loss of consortium damages. In New Mexico, both personal injury claims and wrongful death actions must be filed within three years from the date of injury or death.
Truck driver fatigue accidents often result in catastrophic injuries requiring extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and time away from work. With a 99% success rate across more than 300 resolved cases, Dominguez Law has the experience and resources to investigate your trucking accident thoroughly, working with accident reconstruction specialists and federal regulations specialists to build the strongest possible case for maximum compensation.
As a fifth-generation New Mexican, attorney Paul Dominguez understands the unique challenges our community faces when dealing with large trucking companies and their insurers. We offer free consultations, including weekend availability, to discuss how federal hours-of-service violations and driver fatigue may have contributed to your accident. Call us today or fill out our contact form to schedule your free case evaluation with an Albuquerque truck accident attorney who will fight aggressively for your rights.
At Dominguez Law, we believe in holding parties who act recklessly accountable for their actions and are dedicated to making their insurance companies pay top dollar for your claim. If you believe the at-fault party acted negligently or recklessly, contact us as soon as possible.
To schedule a free consultation with one of our compassionate and aggressive Albuquerque car accident attorneys, call Dominguez Law today at 505-850-5854 or contact us online. Se Habla Español.