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.
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
Truck Driver Carelessness Severely Injures Man’s Face
The below story tells of serious injuries suffered by an Illinois man whose face was shattered by ice falling off of the top of a semi tractor trailer. It speaks as if this is not illegal in Illinois. See
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1978774,ice-shatters-mans-face-010710.article Regardless of whether it violates Illinois law, it is a clear violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations pertaining to Inspection and Maintenance of Equipment.
In the Illinois wreck, according to the Sun Times:
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each driver is required to make sure that his load is safe when he begins a trip, to inspect it after 50 miles and also at least every 150 miles. Slabs of ice on the top of a truck parked outside this time of year are foreseeable. Any reasonable driver would assure that such ice does not accumulate. This driver was clearly negligent. Fortunately it was not negligent homicide.
The Sun Times goes on to report that Morano suffered no brain injury. As I have stated repeatedly on other blogs, there is simply no way to tell in the first few hours after a blow to the head whether a brain injury has occurred, because brain injury is a process, not an event. See http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2009/12/concussion-diagnosis-still-critical-for.html
Before brain injury can be completely ruled out in Morano, he must go back to a medical professional and be tested for amnesia. See my series of videos on this point at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney#p/u/13/x2EKaVHpVd0
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1978774,ice-shatters-mans-face-010710.article Regardless of whether it violates Illinois law, it is a clear violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations pertaining to Inspection and Maintenance of Equipment.
In the Illinois wreck, according to the Sun Times:
A commercial truck — topped with about a foot-and-a-half of snow and ice — was westbound on Butterfield Road between Illinois Route 59 and Eola Road in Aurora about 10 a.m. Monday as Peter Morano was driving in the eastbound lane. When the truck passed under a viaduct, the ice on top of it became unlodged and was sent soaring toward Morano’s windshield.
“It was like an explosion,” Morano recalled while resting at home Wednesday after being released from the hospital.
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each driver is required to make sure that his load is safe when he begins a trip, to inspect it after 50 miles and also at least every 150 miles. Slabs of ice on the top of a truck parked outside this time of year are foreseeable. Any reasonable driver would assure that such ice does not accumulate. This driver was clearly negligent. Fortunately it was not negligent homicide.
The Sun Times goes on to report that Morano suffered no brain injury. As I have stated repeatedly on other blogs, there is simply no way to tell in the first few hours after a blow to the head whether a brain injury has occurred, because brain injury is a process, not an event. See http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2009/12/concussion-diagnosis-still-critical-for.html
Before brain injury can be completely ruled out in Morano, he must go back to a medical professional and be tested for amnesia. See my series of videos on this point at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney#p/u/13/x2EKaVHpVd0