Tuesday was a fatal day in northern Indiana, with vehicular accidents killing eight people.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100224/News01/100229672/1130&Template;=printpicart
In one of the crashes in South Bend, a Cadillac traveling east in on Indiana 2, turning left on Quince Road, was hit by a semi-truck. There was a family in the car. A male passenger in the front seat died at the scene. The driver, with severe injuries, and three children were sent to Memorial Hospital.
The truck driver was taken to the hospital for testing.
In a second accident Tuesday, three people lost their lives when a Chevy Cobalt driving on U.S. 36 crossed a median and flew into the air, hitting a GMC Envoy in LaPorte County.
The driver of the Cobalt, 72-year-old Billy Gene Hamblin of Kingsford Heights, Ind., and a passenger in the Envoy, 38-year-old Amy Klein of Columbia City, Ind., died instantly. The driver of the Envoy, 63-year-old Lloyd Klein of Columbia City, died at Memorial Hospital. Another passenger from the Envoy, Kathy Klein, was in critical condition.
In the third fatal crash, two students from West Noble High School died in unrelated accidents on U.S. 33 in Noble County, Ind. Amanda Musser, 18, was driving on U.S. 33 when she went off the highway and hit a pole. Musser, who wasn’t wearing a seat belt, was dead at the scene.
Then 18-year-old Brandon Replogle was driving on U.S. 33 when he was hit by a truck. He was killed in the crash.
Finally, two people died in an accident on Interstate 65 when a SUV struck a semi-truck between Lowell and Roselawn. The SUV’s passengers were killed instantly. The semi’s driver, 54-year-old John Taylor of Greenwood, Ind., wasn’t injured.
Driver Dies in Five-Truck Crash in Iowa
One often wonders why pile up of semi’s discussed below doesn’t happen more often. Tractor-trailers love to run in convoy, as if safe stopping distance doesn’t count when they are in formation. These are not fighter jets, nor bicycle racers. They are 80,000 pounds of mass hurdling down a highway at or above 70 m.p.h., driven by individuals who may have been driving all night.
A pileup involving five semi-trailers in western Iowa resulted in the fatality of a truck driver Tuesday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowa-truckscollid,0,3809387.story
The collision took place before noon on Interstate 29 near Missouri Valley, when southbound traffic for an unknown reason was at a standstill and lead to the multi-truck crash.
The driver of one of the trucks involved in the crash was killed, and another truck driver was injured. We wonder how many other injuries might have gotten lost in the shuffle of all of this debris.
A pileup involving five semi-trailers in western Iowa resulted in the fatality of a truck driver Tuesday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowa-truckscollid,0,3809387.story
The collision took place before noon on Interstate 29 near Missouri Valley, when southbound traffic for an unknown reason was at a standstill and lead to the multi-truck crash.
The driver of one of the trucks involved in the crash was killed, and another truck driver was injured. We wonder how many other injuries might have gotten lost in the shuffle of all of this debris.
Arizona Woman Killed When Crash Turns Her Car Into A Fireball
A Phoenix mother was killed Sunday morning in a crash on I-10 when a truck hit her disabled car, turning it into a fireball and trapping her, according to several published reports.
http://www.justicenewsflash.com/2010/02/02/fatal-crash-i10-left-woman-dead-blazing-vehicle-fire_201002023205.html
Olga Sanchez Torres, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene. Torres’ car broke down and stopped in the westbound lane of I-10 near 35th Street.
A truck hit her vehicle from behind, and the car exploded in flames. Although witnesses tried to open the doors of Torres’ burning vehicle, they could not get the woman out the car. She remained trapped inside as the car went totally into flames.
Authorities were conducting an investigation of the fatal accident.
Torres’ children told a local TV station that their mother was dedicated to the family, and that the 44-year-old wanted to go back to school to become a nurse.
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Family-of-Phoenix-woman-killed-in-I-10-wreck/50XBjjgGsU6gwIiRRgh82Q.cspx
http://www.justicenewsflash.com/2010/02/02/fatal-crash-i10-left-woman-dead-blazing-vehicle-fire_201002023205.html
Olga Sanchez Torres, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene. Torres’ car broke down and stopped in the westbound lane of I-10 near 35th Street.
A truck hit her vehicle from behind, and the car exploded in flames. Although witnesses tried to open the doors of Torres’ burning vehicle, they could not get the woman out the car. She remained trapped inside as the car went totally into flames.
Authorities were conducting an investigation of the fatal accident.
Torres’ children told a local TV station that their mother was dedicated to the family, and that the 44-year-old wanted to go back to school to become a nurse.
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Family-of-Phoenix-woman-killed-in-I-10-wreck/50XBjjgGsU6gwIiRRgh82Q.cspx
Explosive Fuel Truck Accident Kills Driver, Shuts Down Long Island Expressway For 10 Hours
A fuel tanker truck crashed and exploded into flames on the Long Island Expressway early Saturday morning, killing its driver, melting the road and an overhead sign, and shutting down the busy highway for 10 hours.
The truck was trying to avoid hitting a Dodge Neon shortly after 8 a.m., according to The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24tanker.html?scp=1&sq;=truck%20explosion&st;=cse, and a story published online by firehouse.com: http://www.firehouse.com/topics/top-headlines/tanker-crash/fire-closes-ny-expressway, But the driver, Mujihad Shah of Brooklyn, lost control and the truck flipped over.
The tanker exploded, with its top blown off. The flames reached and melted a highway sign, which landed across all eight lanes of the expressway. The collapse of the sign threatened emergency responders and forced officials to close all eight lanes of the highway.
The asphalt at the site of the accident was “basically cooked,” one officials told The Times.
The truck driver’s body remained in the vehicle for more than four hours before it could be retrieved.
The driver of the car that the truck clipped, Marie Medina of Bayonne, N.J., was taken to Nassau University Medical Center by helicopter, according to Newsday. The Times said she sustained minor injuries.
Workers spent many hours cleaning up the wreckage, made more difficult because the 11000-gallon tanker still had 1,000 gallons of gasoline, according to the Newsday report.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://car-accident-rain.com
The truck was trying to avoid hitting a Dodge Neon shortly after 8 a.m., according to The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24tanker.html?scp=1&sq;=truck%20explosion&st;=cse, and a story published online by firehouse.com: http://www.firehouse.com/topics/top-headlines/tanker-crash/fire-closes-ny-expressway, But the driver, Mujihad Shah of Brooklyn, lost control and the truck flipped over.
The tanker exploded, with its top blown off. The flames reached and melted a highway sign, which landed across all eight lanes of the expressway. The collapse of the sign threatened emergency responders and forced officials to close all eight lanes of the highway.
The asphalt at the site of the accident was “basically cooked,” one officials told The Times.
The truck driver’s body remained in the vehicle for more than four hours before it could be retrieved.
The driver of the car that the truck clipped, Marie Medina of Bayonne, N.J., was taken to Nassau University Medical Center by helicopter, according to Newsday. The Times said she sustained minor injuries.
Workers spent many hours cleaning up the wreckage, made more difficult because the 11000-gallon tanker still had 1,000 gallons of gasoline, according to the Newsday report.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://car-accident-rain.com
Winter and Semi’s Bad Mix
Well we have a foot of snow on the ground here in Wisconsin, which was waiting for me when I got off my last airline flight. The drive home was one of the most anxious I can remember, largely because all of the people who had forgotten how to drive in the snow. Among the idiots out that night were way too many truckers. Fortunately, when I got out of the Milwaukee area, it was only the professional drivers on the road and everyone was content to drive at a reasonable speed, single file. Yet, even at that, we got stopped in one place for almost an hour because a semi had jacked knife across both lanes of the Interstate and it took that long to tow it and the other car away.
Today I read another story about a truck and car collision, with considerably more dire consequences. See http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/263011/ This time, a woman was killed. According to InForum of Fargo/Moorhead Minnesota, the victim pulled out in front of a truck. With the large snow piles in the Midwest right now, that isn’t a huge surprise. But what drew my attention to this story was this paragraph, where another cause of the accident was discussed:
“About 40 accidents have led to six deaths at that intersection (Clay County Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 75) in the past two decades, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.”
Sometimes, assessing the full fault in a wreck is more complicated than just looking at the driver. Earlier this year, we were involved in a case where the State of California paid $10 million because of a faulty highway design. We are doing more and more of these cases every year.
Today I read another story about a truck and car collision, with considerably more dire consequences. See http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/263011/ This time, a woman was killed. According to InForum of Fargo/Moorhead Minnesota, the victim pulled out in front of a truck. With the large snow piles in the Midwest right now, that isn’t a huge surprise. But what drew my attention to this story was this paragraph, where another cause of the accident was discussed:
“About 40 accidents have led to six deaths at that intersection (Clay County Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 75) in the past two decades, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.”
Sometimes, assessing the full fault in a wreck is more complicated than just looking at the driver. Earlier this year, we were involved in a case where the State of California paid $10 million because of a faulty highway design. We are doing more and more of these cases every year.
Iowa Truck Overturns
MARTINSDALE, Iowa (AP) — A stretch of Interstate 35 in central Iowa was closed for nearly nine hours after a truck hauling more than 150 hogs overturned. The crashed happened early Thursday near the Martinsdale exit. Officials said no injuries were reported. Some hogs died in the crash, and about 20 that ran from the semi had to be corralled.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.