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Semi Trucks Raise Safety Concerns for St. Louis Motorists

By Jeffrey Lowe

Big rigs barreling down St. Louis area highways pose dangers to motorists who share the road with them.

According to a recent investigative report on KMOV-4 St. Louis, inattention, bad brakes, poor maintenance and long driving hours are just a few of the many violations law enforcement officers uncovered in the metropolitan St. Louis area.

Last year, the top violations in Missouri included bad lighting, defective brakes, bad tires and truckers who drove too many hours.

Out of 1,300 recent inspections in Southern Illinois, 24 percent of the trucks stopped were parked because they were too unsafe to continue on their journey.

One day a week on Interstate 44, at least half of the trucks are too risky for the road, the St. Louis Police Department reports. That?s because produce haulers hurrying to get from the West Coast to the East Coast by Monday morning are dangerously cutting corners. One officer told KMOV reporter Russell Kinsaul about a trucker attempting to get his load across the country who was pulled over in the metro area after driving for 36 hours.

Kinsaul indicated that truckers who don?t speak any English are also emerging as a safety issue. ?If they can?t speak English, they probably can?t read English, either,? Kinsaul said.

That can be a problem, especially this summer in St. Louis, because portable roadside signs are often used to alert motorists about upcoming road construction, slow downs and highway or lane closings.

Motorists who see a trucker driving dangerously are urged to report the problem by calling the Missouri Highway Patrol at *55 or by dialing 9-1-1 to reach the St. Louis Police Department or Illinois State Police.

The news segment also urged motorists not to linger in traffic lanes next to a semi and not to crowd the big rigs.

If you have been hurt or a loved one has been hurt or died as a result of a truck driver's carelessness, contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois trucking-accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Visit our Truck-Accident Information Center.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on May 22, 2008 (boomark / email).