By: Lt. David Ford

Truck crashes have a dramatic impact. Given the physics of a heavy vehicle moving at freeway speeds, a truck crash frequently generates injuries or fatalities, almost always at the expense of the passenger car occupants. They often generate intense media scrutiny, particularly when a fiery crash is splashed across the evening news with the header of “Killer Trucks” or “Rolling Death.” A truck-involved crash is not quickly resolved, and the resulting congestion regularly creates additional crashes due to traffic stopping too quickly or gawkers not paying attention.

In a study for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation estimates that the average cost of a truck-involved crash was $91,112 (2005 dollars). A crash involving double trailers, a common sight in Michigan, is estimated at $289,549. A truck-involved fatal crash is estimated at $3,604,518.

In 2006, the total number of truck crashes dropped significantly (see table), but the number of fatal injury crashes only decreased slightly. As mentioned earlier, physics play an important part in truck crashes, and the line between an injury crash and a fatal crash is very thin.

Motor Carrier Officers of the Michigan State Police Traffic Safety Division (TSD; formerly the Motor Carrier Division) are often called upon to inspect a commercial vehicle after it has been involved in a crash.

Motor Carrier Officers (MCOs) are not trained as crash reconstructionists, however they are trained to identify violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), which are the minimum safety standards for commercial vehicles while being operated on a highway.

MCOs cannot identify or testify to the cause of the crash. However they are qualified to identify and testify to commercial vehicle violations that may have contributed to the crash, such as vehicle (e.g., equipment) or driver (e.g., log book) violations.

An additional resource that the TSD can bring to the prosecution is the Hazardous Materials and Investigation Unit. This unit is comprised of two sergeants at Division HQ and 11 Motor Carrier Investigators (MCIs) stationed throughout the state. The Unit is responsible for conducting audits and investigations on trucking companies.

While most investigations involve violations of the federal commercial vehicle regulations, MCIs also participate in criminal and homeland security investigations. All Motor Carrier Officers and Investigators have the statutory authority to demand all transportation related documents from a trucking company (Section 480.16 of Act 181 PA 1963).

By reviewing the driver’s and the company’s documents, the MCI can reconstruct the driver’s activities for the past six months to determine compliance with the Hours of Service regulations, as well as review the driver’s medical qualifications and alcohol and drug testing results. The MCI can provide the prosecutor with a very clear picture of the driver’s qualifications to operate a commercial vehicle.

Last, the Unit sergeants have access to a variety of commercial vehicle and criminal intelligence databases that may be useful during a truck crash investigation.

Editor’s Note: Lt. Ford is with the Traffic Services Division of the Michigan State Police. He has been with MSP for 22 years.