Serious safety violations have forced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reprimand and shut down several commercial truckers recently, according to Overdrive.
The Massachusetts owner of Korca Enterprises, Inc. paid a FMCSA investigator $1,000 to halt a negative compliance review last May and was charged on Sept. 26 in a one-count information with bribery of a public official.
FMCSA records list the carrier as having operating authority, but notes a 53-percent vehicle out-of-service rate and 12 inspections during the past 24 months. In exchange for the plea, the prosecutor agreed to recommend 12 months of probation.
Meanwhile, three long-haul drivers - licensed in Michigan, Texas and Illinois - have been ordered to cease interstate operations after investigations uncovered serious violations of federal safety regulations.
All three FMCSA investigations proceeded from the drivers’ involvement in crashes, two of which resulted in at least one fatality and the third a serious injury to a police officer. Read the full details here:
Mass. fleet owner pleads guilty to bribery; FMCSA shuts down three drivers
While most trucking companies would never resort to bribery, many "look the other way" when it comes to state and federal safety laws. It has been proven that safety regulations may be ignored when drivers are looking to shorten their time on the road.
If you feel that unsafe driving factors exhibited by truck drivers led to a major accident which impacted your family’s life, please contact the experienced attorneys of Crandall & Pera Law.