Truck accident results in home evacuations

Ohio authorities evacuated more than 200 homes in northeast Ohio in December after two vehicles struck a bridge. The collision caused a gas line to rupture. That endangered people in the area, and also threatened the structural integrity of the overpass. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a truck crashed into the Niles-Vienna overpass. That incident resulted in two other accidents that resulted in one death in addition to the ruptured has line. State Route 11 between Interstate 80 and state Route 82 had to be shut down while officials examined the bridge.

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Firemen suspended after fatal crash

Two Baltimore firemen have been suspended without pay following an accident in which their fire truck crashed into a sport utility vehicle. Three occupants of the SUV died in the crash. Nathaniel Moore, the driver of the fire truck, and Lieutenant Thomas Moore were suspended pending a hearing. Their fire truck was the third of four fire vehicles traveling north on Park Heights Avenue on their way to a fire. Details of the administrative charges brought against the two were not revealed, but they were said to involve operating an emergency vehicle in an unsafe manner.

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Truck driver ticketed in fatal crash

Police in Mattoon, Ill. ticketed a truck driver for failure to yield in an accident that claimed the life of Jason Alexander. The accident happened when Daniel Zacha of Stewardson turned his Coca-Cola truck in front of Alexander’s van. Alexander died later in the emergency room of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

Wheel flies off truck, kills Wisconsin man

A doctor from Mequon, Wis. died last month when his car was struck by a large wheel that flew off of a heavy truck. Dr. Krishna Chintamaneni, 55, was on his way home when a tire flew off a truck heading in the opposite direction. It bounced over a wall between the two lanes of traffic and hit Chintamaneni’s car, shattering the windshield and killing him. The truck driver didn’t stop, and police say he may not have known what had happened. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, such accidents are rare. It says out of 349,000 truck accidents each year, wheel separation accidents account for only about 750 to 1,000. But truck wheel-tire assemblies can weigh 200 to 300 pounds and can cause very serious damage if they come loose.

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New bonds includes money for Connecticut’s weigh stations

The state of Connecticut’s legislature has approved a new bond package – and those bonds include money to keep the state’s truck weigh stations open longer hours. Some critics claim that the state’s weigh stations haven’t been open enough hours – and they have also complained that the state Department of Transportation hasn’t kept good records to document just how many hours the stations are open. The result, they say, may be an increase in deadly truck accidents. The Citizens Transportation Lobby was founded to push for more rail transit funding. But now the group is also spending time and resources trying to get better truck weight inspections in Connecticut. They claim the longer weigh station hours are needed to help catch truck drivers who are overtired – or who may be operating unsafe vehicles. The new bond legislation – signed earlier this month by Gov. M. Jodi Rell – includes a provision which requires the departments of Public Safety and Motor Vehicles to create truck violation logs to document how long the weigh stations are open. The log system must be up and running by Jan. 1.

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Nebraska farmers turning to bigger semi-trailer rigs

More and more Nebraska farmers are replacing their older trucks with newer, larger semi-trailer trucks to haul grain from their fields. Those newer trucks hold three times as much grain as the old trucks did. But it appears their also are involved in more traffic accidents. The bigger trucks are harder to stop, and they require more experienced drivers. In 2006, semis registered to farms totaled 6,597 — 40 percent more than in 2003. Nebraska (and Iowa, too) require drivers license tests for operators of semi-trailer trucks, and in Nebraska farmers must possess the same commercial licenses as over-the-road truckers. Highway statistics don’t break down truck accidents enough to show how many of the accidents involve farm-owned trucks. But police say they are concerned that more accidents are happening that involve the farm-owned trucks, especially in the fall gravest season.

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Propane truck strikes pickup, overturns

Three people were injured recently when a pickup truck was struck broadside by a propane tank truck in the Brunswick, Ga. area. State police say the pickup truck pulled into the path of the larger vehicle, which was carrying a full load of propane. The Georgia State Patrol said the driver of the pickup, John Anderson of Brunswick, failed to yield the right-of-way and his vehicle was broadsided by the propane tanker. No propane was spilled in the accident, even though the propane tank truck overturned.

Two truckers die in New Jersey accident

Two truck drivers died recently when their rigs collided and caught fire on Interstate 78 in Union, New Jersey. The highway had to be closed for more than 90 minutes while officials extinguished the fire and cleared the wreckage. Authorities weren’t sure what caused the fiery accident. Both of the trucks ended up in the eastbound lanes, but it wasn’t known if both were traveling in that lane before the accident. Chief Frederic Fretz of the Union Fire Department said of the drivers, “We couldn’t get to them. They succumbed in the cabs of their vehicles.” One truck had been carrying gravel; the other one carried metal pipes. Chief Fretz said the accident happened on a stretch that has been the scene of many similar accidents.

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Enforcement in Kentucky may be reason for fewer accidents

Transportation authorities in Kentucky say there has been a dramatic drop in the number of people killed and injured on Northern Kentucky roads this year. Accidents have decreased in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties, and police say it might be because of more stringent highway law enforcement. During the first three quarters of 2007, police reported 787 fewer crashes in the counties since the same period of 2006. That translates to a drop of about 11 percent. State Police Lt. John Bradley said, “What’s even more significant is - if you look at the number of fatal accidents. In 2005, there were 32 fatalities and during the same period in 2006 we had 31 fatalities. But during the same period in 2007 in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, we had just 19 fatal collisions and 20 fatalities.”

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Speeding, swerving trucks a problem on Florida highways

Police in Florida say that some accidents involving big trucks result from truckers driving too fast and swerving in and out of traffic. So the Florida State Police have been spending some time targeting truck drivers who engage in those dangerous practices. Authorities say that eight percent of highway accidents involve large trucks in the state of Florida. And the percentage is even higher for accidents that result in death. The police say swerving and speeding isn’t the entire story; some truckers follow other vehicles too closely.

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Truckers not happy with rule banning them from I-4’s left lane

Some truckers who travel I-4 in the Orlando, Florida area are unhappy that new rules that keep their rigs out of the fast left lane. They believe the rule may make the road more, rather than less, dangerous. The reason is that truckers believe they have to deal with more merging traffic when they travel in the right-hand lanes. And merging a big rig is much more difficult than merging a small car. The Florida Department of Transportation doesn’t believe that’s true. The department claims that three studies show that truck accidents declined on stretches of I-75 and I-95 that have had similar bans on trucks in the left lanes. The DOT says that the studies indicate trucks driving in the right-hand lanes make fewer lane changes – and that lane changes can create conditions that lead to truck accidents.

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Over weight trucks in Florida pay little in fines

There are many trucks operating on Florida roads that are overweight. But the drivers and owners have little to fear – fines for truckers hauling overweight loads are low, and the number of law enforcement officers enforcing the truck weight laws are few and far between. Overweight trucks are dangerous because it takes much more time and distance to stop and truck that exceeds the state weight limitations. And too-heavy trucks also cause greater wear and tear on roads and bridges. In spite of all that, trucks that are overloaded area common occurrence in Florida. And that situation isn’t likely to change until the state gets tougher, faces up to the strong trucker lobby, and raises the fines for operating overweight trucks.

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Swerving, speeding behind some truck accidents

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, swerving in and out of traffic is one big reason for serious truck accidents. Another reason is speed. So the FHP says it is going to be paying closer attention to truck drivers who drive too fast and who swerve their rigs from lane to lane. Another problem, accordsing to the FHP: truckers who follow other vehicles too closely. The police say that if truckers have to get on the brakes too hard when they are following too closely, they may either crash into the vehicle in front of them or end up jack-knifing their rigs.

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Train-truck crash closes Georgia road for hours

A 40-car CSX freight train crashed into two tractor-trailers stopped on the tracks on Dean Forest Road in the Savannah, Georgia area on October 18. One of the truck drivers was hospitalized, and it took many hours for workers to clear the wreckage as well as the truck cargo from the roadway — grapefruit juice, chicken grease and 30,000 pounds of powdered PVC plastic. Police say the two were traveling side-by-side and stopped on the tracks in heavy traffic. The drivers couldn’t clear the tracks because of the traffic and the approaching train struck the two trailers.

Study links truck safety to higher driver wages

The more truck drivers are paid, the less likely they are to engage in risky driving behavior. That’s the conclusion of a recent Cornell University study. Drivers who don’t earn very much are apt to drive longer hours, or drive when over tired, simply to increase their pay levels, the study says. Drivers who are better compensated are less likely to engage in those kinds of risks.

Some drivers are paid by the mile – so much money for each mile driven. This kind of compensation system can lead drivers to push themselves unnecessarily in order to boost their income. And drivers may engage in other risky behaviors, such as taking medications to help them stay awake.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that truck accidents go up sharply when drivers work too many hours, or drive too many miles in a day.

The study underlines once again that truck drivers need fair compensation plans, and also need reasonable periods of rest, if they are to maintain good safety records on the road. It is important that the trucking industry support these reasonable goals in order to protect public safety. If the industry won’t so it themselves, then the government needs to mandates those standards.

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Safety program significantly reduces truck rollover accidents

You can learn quite a bit by reading the quarterly and annual reports issued by public companies. For example, I was recently reading the third quarter report issued by an Arkansas-based trucking company that operates a fleet of about 2,600 tractors throughout the US and into Canada and Mexico.

The report talked about how the company experienced 24 rollover accidents during the first two quarters of this year. That computed out to one rollover accident every 7.5 days.

In the third quarter, the company began a safety training program for its drivers designed specifically to avoid rollover accidents. The result: just four rollover accidents in the third quarter, or one accident every 22.5 days.

What’s the lesson? Well, it certainly indicates that well-designed and executed driver training programs can be very effective in reducing serious accidents. Obviously, fewer accidents mean a higher level of public safety. But it can also mean a better bottom line for the trucking companies – serious big-rig accidents are expensive.

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Accidents in Florida involving trucks more frequent than average

The Florida Department of Transportation looked at highway fatalities and heavy trucks for 1998, 1999 and 2000, and found that heavy trucks are over-represented in fatal crashes in the state.

The study found that fully 50 percent of the fatalities occurring in accidents involving heavy trucks resulted from rollover accidents. Another 26 percent happened in vehicles that caught fire.

In addition, the study found that around 50 percent of vehicle defects in fatal crashes belonged to heavy trucks (that’s defects other than tire problems.)

Overall, Florida has about 40 percent more fatalities per vehicle mile than the 1999 national average, and heavy trucks were over-represented in fatal crashes. Fatalities in accidents involving heavy trucks happen at a rate about twice that of passenger cars.

Fatigue and inattention on the part of truck drivers contribute to the high accident numbers, the report said.

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Global positioning systems make truck accident reconstruction easier

Accident reconstruction has always been a difficult and demanding exercise. But the increase in Global Positioning System technology in trucks makes the job a little easier.

GPS technology (as well as Electronic Control Modules – computer-driven data systems) are installed on many modern trucks, and they allow trucking companies to keep track of where their vehicles are and how they are performing. They can even provide insight into how truck drivers are doing their jobs.

Accident reconstruction specialists can review GPS readouts or Electronic Control Module reports and determine exactly where the truck was prior to the crash, how fast it was going, and whether it was performing properly. The data can show whether the driver was speeding or weaving, where he applied the brakes, and how long he had been on the roads that day.

Much of that data can be retrieved by trucking company personnel back at the office, thanks to the Internet.

It’s one more tool available to accident reconstruction specialists. And the data can be valuable evidence in court cases that result from serious highweay accidents.

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New trucker hours are disallowed

A federal court has struck down regulations that would have allowed truck drivers to work more hours without rest. New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (”FMCSA”) regulations had been passed that would have allowed 11-hour driving days followed by 10 hours of rest. The court’s decision means that driver will have to go back to the old regulations — 10 hours of drive time followed by eight hours of rest.

It’s good to see the courts siding with the interests of public safety, after the administration tried to make a gift of more working hours without rest to the trucking industry, which was looking fgor more profits. Research shows that truck accidents go up after eight hours on the road.

According to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 56,935 people have died and a million more have been injured in truck crashes in the U.S. during the past 10 years. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen and the former director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said truck driving is the most hazardous occupation in America.

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Many truck drivers involved in accidents had criminal records

A Texas newspaper took a look at nearly a thousand large truck accidents that happened between 2000 and 2005. And it found that as many as one quarter of the truck drivers involved had criminal records.

The report, conducted by the Dallas Morning News, found that one in every four drivers involved in the accidents had either been convicted of a criminal offense, or had completed probation in order to have their records cleaned.

More than 14 percent had been convicted of drug or alochol charges. And more than 10 per cent of the drivers had been convicted of felonies.

Under current law, trucking companies do not have to conduct background checks on the people they hire. And thereis nothing to prevent the companies from hiring drivers that have criminal backgrounds.