Ford and Laurel Attorneys at Law, San Antonio 2/27/14

Did you see the article in the San Antonio Express from Sunday?
“Road safety still a problem in Eagle Ford,”
Yeah – tell me about it! Wow, this really got my goat!

Photo credit: San Antonio Express News
Here is the condensed version:
In just over three years from 2011 to 2014 the DPS in south Texas, more specifically La Salle, McMullen and Dimmit Counties, has stopped tens of thousands of commercial vehicles (as in oilfield trucks) for violations. They’ve issued more then 60,000 warnings to drivers and performed close to 14,000 inspections. These inspections resulted in law enforcement hitting the brakes on over 5,000 trucks. Yes sir! Out. Of. Service.

DPS Sargent Maldonado states that common violations included: driving without a commercial license, not having or keeping a log book and, yowzers!, bad brakes. That last one surely gives me pause. No wonder the number of truck accidents has so dramatically increased in these counties. Other factors in Truck Accidents have been driver fatigue and speeding. Apparently some of these Truck Drivers are so distracted that they totally forgot their drivers-ed lessons and are overtaking school busses loading and unloading kids. What’s up with that? We already know that the infrastructure in these counties is faltering due to the increase of traffic from these very heavy, sometimes overloaded, commercial vehicles coming from the oilfield. They’re causing crumbling black-tops, AND they can’t follow basic traffic safety laws?! We don’t need stupid added in the equation as major factor for traffic and Truck Accidents.

And then there’s the railroad tracks. The tracks are taking a beating where the trucks cross, which is often since most oilfield traffic goes west to east or visa-versa and the tracks go south to north. In some cases the trucks bottom out at the track crossings and can pop the rails out of the track. Buck Russel, public safety manager for Union Pacific, said they have a special set of problems in the Eagle Ford Region. The increased risk of truck/train accidents in these areas has certainly come to the attention of the local politicians. Sen. Zaffirini also notes the hazardous cargo some of these trucks are carrying and the possibilities for some serious environmental impact, should these trucks have an accident with a train or another vehicle.

In other words – it’s a mess out there and the potential for bigger messes is getting, well, bigger. But if you’ve gotten caught up in it, we’re here to help. Ford and Laurel Attorneys at Law, your Car and Truck Accident Lawyers.
San Antonio (210) 820-3434 or Laredo (888) 295-7669
www.fordandlaurel.com