The 18-wheeler, marked with the company name Texas International Express LLC, was traveling north about 5 miles north of Pearl River when its front left tire blew out, said Trooper Nick Manale, spokesman for State Police Troop L. The driver, Juan Torres, 37, of Montgomery, Texas, lost control of the rig, and the tractor-trailer rumbled across the median and struck the southbound pickup nearly head-on, police said. After impact, the pickup and 18-wheeler slid off the highway, coming to a halt in the treeline on the west side of the interstate, Manale said.

Troopers specializing in vehicle inspection were brought in to determine whether the 18-wheeler had all of the required equipment and whether that equipment was properly installed, police said. Federal Motor Carrier SafetyRegulations require an 18-wheeler driver to perform a pre-trip inspection and a end of the day report. A driver cannot operate a commercial motor vehicle until he has inspected his equipment including the tires for good working order.

§392.7 Equipment, inspection and use.

No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the following parts and accessories are in good working order, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such parts and accessories when and as needed:

Service brakes, including trailer brake connections.
Parking (hand) brake.
Steering mechanism.
Lighting devices and reflectors.
Tires.
Horn.
Windshield wiper or wipers.
Rear-vision mirror or mirrors.
Coupling devices.

[33 FR 19732, Dec. 25, 1968, as amended at 60 FR 38746, July 28, 1995]

An explosion and fire on an oil drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, 2010 and the subsequent sinking of that rig have resulted in a major oil spill, known as the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, in the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting oil slick has damaged or is threatening the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Emergency measures are underway to respond to the oil spill and slick.

Emergency rescuers could not get close because the flames were too hot. The police officer and his cousin who was also killed were in the SUV. Investigators also mistook the SUV for a small car. Also killed were the drivers of the 18-wheelers. The driver of the broken down 18-wheeler on the shoulder was asleep in the cab and not injured. He was cited for failure to properly display warning devices for a disabled vehicle on the shoulder. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require the 18-wheeler driver to take immediate steps to protect the motoring public. Part 392.22: Emergency signals; stopped commercial motor vehicles.

Reid’s wife was a passenger in her daughter’s van and suffered a broken neck, back and nose requiring surgical intervention. The crash occurred on a heavily traveled section of Interstate 95 in Fairfax County, VA, just South of Washington, D.C. According to a statement by the Virginia State Police, as Sen. Reid’s daughter was driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey, she began breaking for traffic, and the 18-wheeler struck the rear of her van and forced her into the rear of the car in front pushing the vehicle into the next lane, where it struck another vehicle.

P.A.M. is short for the company founder’s initials, but has also been reported to stand for “Pretty Awesome Mileage.” It has a fleet of about 1769 tractors and 4,500 trailers.

The FMCSA is currently holding public sessions regarding the hours of duty and drive time of an 18-wheeler driver on our highways. The result of these 80,000 pound big rig collisions, in the greater percentage of time, the people in the car are going to be seriously injured or killed.

Here the 18-wheeler took out 3 vehicles. The number of 18-wheelers on our highways seems to be increasing. Every time you are on the highway you find yourself next to an 18-wheeler. Safety of the motoring public require limitations on the duty and drive time hours of these big rig drivers to prevent fatigue, falling asleep at the wheel, and traveling to close between the car in front to stop and prevent a rear-end catastrophe.

We wish the Senator’s wife a speedy recovery.

The 18-wheeler driver then fled the scene headed toward Interstate 20. Surveillance video gave a clear picture of the red cab, white box trailer, the name “MegaTrux” on the side and damage on the big rig driver’s side. GPS was used to locate the truck and its driver in Alabama where authorities arrested the 18-wheeler driver.

Haz-mat crews worked all morning to clean up the spill. Gasoline broke down asphalt on a nearby road and then traveled downhill into a ditch where small fish died. I handle 18-wheeler truck accidents and routinely request preservation of electronic data such as video from surrounding surveillance cameras that may capture the wreck, electronic control module or black box data, driver logs, GPS, and all electronically stored information(ESI).

The flipping of a truck is usually the result of the negligence in the handling of the truck and the trailer by the driver, operating at an excessive, dangerous, and unreasonable speed under the circumstances in failing to reduce his speed in obedience to the warning signs posted on the on-ramp, and in failing to properly distribute weight on a trailer for highway travel so it would not shift or change its center upon the stress of turning sharp curves.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting. FMCSA research shows drivers who text are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. For states that ban texting for all drivers, see one of my older blog posts.

Their minivan was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler, which according to an eyewitness, was speeding at the time. The minivan was pushed off the highway. The two vehicles got entangled and plowed through trees and ended up in a swamp.

When an 80,000 pound speeding 18-wheeler crushes a passenger vehicle, the truck just has too much size and weight. The Motoring public beware, the trucking transport industry wants to increase 18-wheeler’s size and weight to 97,000 pounds across the country.

Pineville Police report all four lanes of La. 28 were to be reopened around 5:30, but that it may take a while for traffic to resume flowing. An eye witnesses stated that traffic was backed up for miles.

Our question is simple: why did the 18-wheeler accident occur? Had the truck driver been driving too long? Was the truck in the wrong lane of travel at impact?

What other factors exist for this inconvenient and needless wreck? The lesson here is to drive defensively around these behemoth tractor/trailer 18-wheelers.

The plaintiff was a newlywed with a 25-year old wife who was 3-months pregnant. A witness, who happened to be another 18-wheeler driver behind the defendant, testified that the defendant driver never slowed or swerved before crushing the Tollway truck. He also told the jury that the left lanes were free and clear, so the accident was entirely avoidable.

The defendant admitted negligence, but contended that Illinois Tollway was also negligent in the accident for not protecting the plaintiff’s decedent. Illinois Tollway denied any negligence in this case. After a trial that lasted 6 days, the jury found the defendant and their semi-truck driver at fault. The jury found Illinois Tollway not guilty.

Authorities say the 18-wheeler driver held the men at knifepoint for about 10 minutes after he was issued a citation and told to park his truck. He was arrested on kidnapping charges and taken to jail.

The reason the truck driver was told to park his truck was because he was over his allowed hours of drive time. Under Federal law, drivers are allowed to drive just so much. Under current federal regulations, there are 2 cumulative driving time rules – one allows truck drivers to drive 60 hours in 7 consecutive days; and the second allows them to drive 70 hours in 8 consecutive days. To restart the 60 or 70 hour clock, they must have at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. No driver is allowed to drive more than 11 cumulative hours following 10 consecutive hours off.

The FMCSA web site shows that in the past 30 months, the motor carrier of the truck driver has had 36 out-of-service violations for exceeding the 11-hour driving limit and 40 out-of-service violations for exceeding the 14-hour on duty limit. The FMCSA SafeStat shows the trucking company has a deficient Driver Safety Evaluation. Thanks for getting this trucker off the Interstate.

Why did these truck drivers lose control of their big rigs on the interstate? Truck drivers are professional drivers requiring testing to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Safe driving techniques, along with common sense, teach truck drivers to reduce speed in inclement weather. Accident-free truck driving requires the trucker to drive his big rig according to weather conditions. Truck driving through a Louisiana rainstorm certainly calls for extra caution and attention to detail.

During this kind of weather, truck drivers should make speed adjustments and increase stopping distance due to slippery roadways. Slippery roads, wet pavement or torrential rains require the truck driver to assess safety and determine whether the truck driver should get his rig off the interstate and adjust his work schedule to accommodate the hazardous road condition. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require the truck driver to exercise extreme caution in the operation of his commercial motor vehicle in hazardous conditions such as snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, smoke or adverse conditions that effect visibility or traction. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated. See 49 C.F.R. 392.14. Truck drivers can refuse to drive their commercial vehicles in dangerous weather and the employer may not legally fire or discipline him for refusing to drive because of hazardous road conditions.

In a safety recommendation issued by NTSB, it wants FMCSA to “develop and disseminate guidance for commercial drivers, employers and physicians” for identifying high-risk drivers. The NTSB’s recommendation specifically mentioned “commercial drivers,” an referenced an incident of a tractor-trailer driver with diagnosed OSA. He had collided with a Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicle, killing the trooper. The 18-wheeler driver had surgery for OSA but hadn’t reported his condition when examined for his medical certification. Other NTSB investigations mentioned included two commercial airline pilots who fell asleep (one of whom was at risk for OSA) and missed their intended destination airport in Hilo, Hawaii, and a train engineer who had been diagnosed with OSA who went through a stop and struck another train.

The NTSB said the prevalence of OSA is more than 50 percent in patients with an average body mass index of 40.0. It also mentioned a 2006 consensus statement from the Joint Task Force of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the National Sleep Foundation recommending that commercial drivers with a body mass index of 35 or higher and hypertension that can’t be controlled on less than two medications not be certified for longer than three months pending a formal OSA evaluation. Sleepiness from sleep apnea has been shown to significantly increase a driver’s risk of driving drowsy. Driver fatigue and sleepiness is a major cause of truck crashes. Stricter screening mandates could reduce the risk of truck crashes.