Legal - Legal Services
Legal - Attorneys
Legal - Law Firms
WHAT ARE CMV CONSPICUITY REQUIREMENTS?
What are CMV conspicuity requirements, you ask. Let's break that
question down a little bit. A CMV is a commercial motor vehicle
and conspicuity requirements refer to federal requirements that
CMVs incorporate retroreflective treatments or reflex reflectors,
such as reflective tape. That's better. The Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires CMVs to incorporate these
safety treatments on their trailers and the on the rear of their
truck tractors to help prevent motorists from crashing into a
tractor's sides or rear when traveling by dark of night or in
other situations where visibility is reduced and to help prevent
motorists from rear-ending a truck tractor (absent its trailer)
under similar circumstances.
Reflective Tape
Reflective materials, and thus reflective
tape (or retroreflective tape) and other conspicuity treatments,
are made to enable objects (such as CMVs) to be more visible at
night or in other low-visibility situations. In fact, the NHTSA
reports that reflective tape can help reduce dangerous impact
accidents with truck trailers by 29 percent, and as such, the
agency mandates that all CMVs be outfitted with an appropriate
form of this safety mechanism.
If you've been injured in a truck accident, you understand just
how harrowing that is. At The Levin Firm in Philadelphia, our
skilled truck accident attorneys have the compassion, experience,
and dedication to fight your just compensation, and we're here to
help.
Length and Width
Requirements
Reflective tape comes in a variety of sizes
and colors, but the NHTSA recommends that CMVs incorporate
reflective tape that alternates between red and white sections,
and that the reflective tape should be cut into pieces that
measure no less than six inches long and no greater than 18
inches long. A cut measurement of reflective tape, however,
should be trimmed if its length will cause it to be obstructive.
Further, the tape employed on CMVs should be either 2 inches
(DOT-C2), 3 inches (DOT-C3), or 4 inches (DOT-C4) in width.
Getting It Right
Randomly plastering a tractor and trailer
with reflective tape doesn't meet the safety requirements laid
out by the NHTSA. Instead, a truck's trailer should have
reflective tape in those locations where it is most effective at
increasing the CMV's visibility, which includes the trailer's
sides, the trailer's lower-rear section, the trailer's upper-rear
section, and the tractor's rear section.
The NHTSA gets more specific on the matter:
The sides of the trailer should have reflective tape positioned
as horizontally as feasible in sections that begin and end as
close to the trailer's front and rear as practicable. While the
tape should be in sections that are spaced evenly along the
trailer-rather than in one continuous strip-the overall length of
the tape should be approximately half the length of the trailer.
Finally, the centerline of the tape's width should be between 15
and 60 inches above the roadway (when the tractor is empty)-or as
close to this distance as possible.
The lower-rear section of the trailer should follow the same
NHTSA guidelines except that the entire lower-rear section should
be covered by one continuous piece of red and white reflective
tape.
The requirements for the upper-rear section of the trailer are
slightly different. For this segment of the trailer, the
reflective tape should be all white (instead of incorporating the
alternating red and white color scheme) and should be comprised
of two pairs of white tape that form an inverted L shape at both
upper corners (as close to the edges as possible).
The tractor's rear section should have red and white reflective
tape placed as close as possible to the edges of its mud flaps
(or their support brackets) or on the tractor's rear fenders.
Further, the tape should be positioned on the cab's upper
contours (much as they should be on the upper-rear section of the
trailer).
Proper Maintenance
Once the reflective tape is properly placed,
it is only as effective as it is visible to motorists with whom
the truck shares the road. Reflective tape can't adequately catch
the light and reflect it when it's covered with mud, dirt, ice,
or snow, and as such, must be kept clean to be effective.
Tractor-trailers are massive vehicles that, due to their immense
size, experience diminished maneuverability as they barrel down
our highways and byways. In other words, they are extremely
dangerous vehicles. In fact, commercial truck accidents are some
of the deadliest experienced on our roads.
What Not to Do
After being injured in a truck accident
isn't necessarily a great time to be making important decisions
related to any ensuing legal claim. There are, however, some
things to keep in mind that you probably shouldn't do in such a
situation. You are not required to speak to (or make a statement
to) any representative of the trucking company, the insurance
company, or the legal counsel that's involved-nor should you.
Allow your experienced Philadelphia truck accident lawyer to do
the talking for you. Further, don't sign away your rights by
agreeing to the trucking company's fair settlement offer without
first consulting with an attorney. Again, your attorney will help
you decide what's fair and what isn't. Finally, although every
truck accident is harrowing and you may want to simply move on
with your life by forgetting about the entire affair, it's
important to recognize that Pennsylvania has a two-year statute
of limitations for truck accident claims and that your rights are
too important to leave to chance.
If You've Been Injured in a Truck Accident, Consult with a
Skilled Philadelphia Truck Accident Attorney Today
Truck accidents are horrifying and often wreak devastating
damages. If you or someone you care about has been injured in a
truck accident, you understand how difficult coping with the
aftermath is, but help is available. At The Levin Firm in
Philadelphia, our dedicated truck accident attorneys are
committed to aggressively campaigning for your legal rights and
for your just compensation. Our experienced legal team is here to
help, so please contact or call us at 215-825-5183 today.