In 2006, Christopher Mejia suffered permanent and disabling injuries when he was struck by an 18-wheeler helping a friend load a disabled vehicle onto a trailer on the shoulder of the interstate. An 18-wheeler veered off the road and struck the men. Mejia was thrown in the air sustaining a torn brachial plexus, closed head injury, and 8 fractured teeth. His friend was killed. The driver of the 18-wheeler was blamed for being fatigued causing him to go off the road. Truck drivers are allowed to drive 11 hours a day and work 14 hours. Before, the maximum drive time was 10 hours. Safety groups are currently in the court system requesting that the hours of service of a truck driver be reduced to promote safety to the motoring public as well as the truck driver.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
