Articles Posted in Truck Accident

According to a state police news release, a Chelsea driver faces motor vehicular homicide charges related to a fatal truck accident that occurred on December 8. The Massachusetts Turnpike crash killed a Whitinsville man. The truck driver is charged with motor vehicular homicide by negligence. Charges of marked lanes and breakdown lane violations will heard at a later date.

A preliminary investigation of the truck crash shows that a tractor-trailer unit was being serviced in the breakdown lane when it was hit by another vehicle. The vehicle hit a 36-year-old man who was repairing the tractor-trailer. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the auto accident.

The driver of the disabled tractor-trailer was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus, where he was treated for serious injuries.

Source: Driver in fatal truck accident charged with motor vehicle homicide, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, January 20, 2010 Continue reading

This morning around 9am, a motor vehicle crash on Route 2 west injured several drivers and seriously injured the driver of a tanker truck that reportedly drove onto the right shoulder of the roadway and rolled over onto the vehicles on its left.

The driver of the tanker truck was cited for speeding and taken by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. His vehicle was carrying several thousand gallons of diesel fuel, but fortunately none of it spilled. At least one other person was injured and several vehicles crushed.

As a result of the auto collision, authorities closed the road and diverted traffic in both directions. The scene of the accident was cleared roughly two and a half hours later, and the collision is still being investigated.

Source: Tanker truck driver seriously injured after rollover, Boston Globe, January 13, 2010 Continue reading

Last week, a single-vehicle accident on Massachusetts’ Interstate 84 near the Bethel-Danbury line injured a 62-year-old man, sending him to Danbury Hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries.”

According to police, the man’s pickup truck crossed from the left lane to the right shoulder and overturned, ejecting the driver from his vehicle. The man reportedly took his eye off the road when he adjusting the truck’s heater.

Massachusetts state police closed the highway completely while emergency medical personnel rushed to the scene of the truck crash. About an hour after the truck crash, they reopened one lane of traffic. As vehicles funneled past the site of the accident, they were reported to be going about 5-10 miles per hour.

The truck accident is still under investigation and no charges have been filed.

Source: Man hospitalized after I-84 crash in Danbury, NewsTimes.com, December 29, 2009 Continue reading

In Grafton, Massachusetts, a truck accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike killed a 36-year-old man who had just repaired a disabled tanker truck. He was apparently hit and killed by a 2008 Freightliner box truck that hit the tanker truck, then hit him.

The driver of the tanker truck also sustainer serious injuries including a broken arm and was transported by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus in Worchester.

According to the state Department of Transportation, the occurred truck crasharound 9:30am in the westbound portion of the highway. Two lanes of traffic were for roughly two and a half hours during the investigation of the deadly truck accident.

Source: Deadly crash on Pike, Worcester Telegram, December 9, 2009 Continue reading

On Monday morning, a motor vehicle accident involving three tractor trailers and one car caused numerous delays on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Around 2:30am, one of the tractor trailers hit a tollbooth at the Weston Tolls on the eastbound side. Although a tollbooth operator was inside the building when the traffic crash occurred, the operator managed to escape injury.

The three trucks involved in the accident were carrying goods including beef, paper goods, and tomatoes, which spilled over the roadway. The driver of the car involved in the Massachusetts Pike accident was taken to the hospital with minor injuries after the vehicle was wedged underneath one of the tractor trailers.

The motor vehicle accident is still under investigation, and the scene of the accident was cleared by around 10:30am. In order to keep traffic flowing, motorists did not have to pay tolls after four lanes of traffic opened in the morning.

Tractor trailers involved in crash at Weston tolls on Pike, WHDH.com, October 26, 2009 Continue reading

On Friday morning, a 50-year-old from Marlborough died after being ejected from his truck in a rollover crash. Police say the man was driving south on Route 66 when his Chevrolet Silverado 2500 truck went off the road just after midnight.

He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the truck accident, and a coroner pronounced him dead on the scene. A 47-year-old from Florida suffered minor injuries, while two other passengers in the truck were not injured.

Police say they believe the truck accident was weather-related, though they have yet to determine the cause of the accident.

Mass. man killed in Forest County accident, GoErie.com, October 17, 2009 Continue reading

The hazards of text messaging while driving well known, but a recent study found that the risk is disproportionately higher for truckers than those behind the wheel of a car. The study, which was conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, found that truckers who text are 23 times more likely to be involved in a traffic crash or get into a near-wreck than an undistracted driver.

The study also found that the greatest risk to car drivers is when they dial a cell phone. A truck driver is 5.9 times more likely than an undistracted driver to get into a motor vehicle accident while dialing a cell phone. Car drivers are 2.8 times more likely. A trucker who reaches for an electronic device increases their accident risk 6.7 times, while a car driver increases risk by 1.4. According to the study, drivers spend five seconds out of a six second window looking away from the road when they are engaged with an electronic device.

The study was based on research from 2004 to 2007, and researchers looked at video footage from cameras inside of vehicles to look at how drivers engage with the road while using their cell phones. Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that drivers forego cell phones while driving, even if they are using a hands-free phone.

Study: Texting while driving more dangerous for truckers, CNN.com, July 28, 2009 Continue reading

On Friday morning, a dump truck crashed into several parked cars in Cohasset Village. Cohasset police say the truck went onto the sidewalk, hit a large trash container, then crossed into oncoming traffic before hitting an SUV and crashing into three parked cars. The driver, 74, of Cohasset, was taken to South Short Hospital with minor injuries. Miraculously, no one else was injured.

Four vehicles were towed from the scene of the truck crash and parts of Cohasset Village streets were closed for approximately two hours. The accident caused a lot of property damage, so Cohasset police enlisted the help of the Weymouth Police Department’s accident reconstruction specialist to assist with the investigation.

The dump truck accident remains under investigation, and no citations have been issued thus far.

Dump truck crashes through Cohasset Village, Patriot Ledger, June 13, 2009 Continue reading

In response to a truck accident earlier this month involving a trucker from Massachusetts, legislators are considering a federal bill that would give a tax incentive to trucking companies that install GPS and other high-tech safety equipment. The proposed technology includes automated systems that shut down trucks with an overloaded brake system and warn drivers if their truck strays outside of their lane.

Trucking companies would be allowed to deduct up to $3,500 per truck (for a total of $350,000 per year) through 2014. They could also deduct the cost of buying systems to slow down trucks driving too fast around winding curves. The proposal is part of a larger federal transportation technology bill, which will receive a vote over the next several weeks.

According to a study conducted last year, truck accidents are responsible for nearly 5,000 deaths and over 100,000 injuries.

Federal proposal offers incentives to increase truck safety, Pasadena Star-News, April 24, 2009 Continue reading