In any event, the criteria defining the category of accidents reported on defendants forms remain largely implicit, the court said. The interests of the trucking industry, the court added, reach beyond concerns about highway safety to matters of economics and profitability. Vacating in part, the Tenth Circuit observed that, without explicitly stated criteria, the reporting of various events grouped into the accident category in the report on plaintiff necessarily would lack the precision needed to assure consistency among all reports produced by the agency.
Vacating in part, the Tenth Circuit observed that, without explicitly stated criteria, the reporting of various events grouped into the accident category in the report on plaintiff necessarily would lack the precision needed to assure consistency among all reports produced by the agency. The inclusion in defendants reports of incidents in which equipment was damaged while assigned to the driver regardless of fault indicates the extremely broad definition of accident that is sometimes used. For example, one incident cited against plaintiff concerned his turning around on private parking lot, apparently damaging the surface of the lot.
The inclusion in defendants reports of incidents in which equipment was damaged while assigned to the driver regardless of fault indicates the extremely broad definition of accident that is sometimes used. His truck and trailer were not damaged, and he did not collide with any other vehicle or object, yet this matter was cited as an accident in his report.. Yet there are many unexpected occurrences, the court said, encountered by commercial truck drivers and other motorists on daily basis that persons using everyday language would not characterize as accidents.
