P.I.S.S.D. — Personal Injury, Social Security Disability. Dallas Texas Lawyers

Today’s Dallas Morning News has a good article about filing complaints about unsafe truck drivers. Here are some excerpts:

When The Dallas Morning News
investigated truck safety in Texas in 2006, reporters heard from folks
all over about flying debris or near-collisions with trucks.    

And yes, truckers, we heard from you, too. We heard how cars cut you
off, not realizing that it takes a football field for you to stop.    

If you see an unsafe truck or truck driver on the road, file a
complaint. To do so, you need the truck’s Texas Department of
Transportation number or U.S. Department of Transportation number.
These numbers identify the company for which the truck operates. It’s
usually printed on or near the driver’s door.    

You can
file a complaint with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Motor
Carrier Bureau by calling 512-424-2051.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration says it investigates complaints filed against interstate
carriers – trucks that operate across state lines. But when my
colleague contacted the agency to file a complaint, he was told he
would have to prove that the truck was on a multistate trip. If you’d
like to file a complaint with the FMCSA, go to www.fmcsa.dot.gov or
call 1-888-368-7238.

You also should report the incident
to the trucking company. Depending on the situation, the company’s
insurance might pay for the damage to your vehicle. To find contact
information for the company, check FMCSA’s or TxDOT’s Web sites for
searchable databases of trucking companies.

The
complaints that citizens and others file can result in an investigation
by DPS or FMCSA known as a compliance review. Of the more than 2,100
complaints filed with DPS last year, about 7 percent were filed by
citizens. Most – 77 percent – came from police officers. Investigations
also are conducted after fatal accidents or at the request of another
agency.

DPS took action against carriers in only a small
percentage of complaints filed in 2007. In some cases, it turned
investigations over to FMCSA or found that the carrier was not at
fault. Nearly a fourth of the reviews were canceled because
investigators did not meet an internal deadline for completing them. In
cases in which it took enforcement actions, some companies were fined
and a few were ordered to cease operations.

Submit a complaint to FMCSA

Look for company information and safety information for an interstate carrier

Search Texas carrier safety ratings