Three People Injured in Tractor Trailer Accident in Greene County Tennessee
Three people were injured on Sunday in an accident involving a tractor trailer, a truck and a Tennessee Highway Patrol cruiser.
According to news reports, the truck was involved in installing reflectors on interstate 81 in Greene County, when a tractor trailer crashed into it. The truck was pushed into the cruiser nearby, leaving a trooper injured. The tractor trailer then went off the roadway and fell into a ravine. While one of the occupants of the big rig managed to crawl out through the sleeping compartment, the driver was trapped, and had to be extricated by emergency rescue personnel. Both the occupants of the tractor trailer were also injured. Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.
It’s extremely fortunate that there were no fatalities in this accident. Collisions involving an 18-wheeler can quickly trigger off other accidents in the vicinity, and typically involve serious injuries and fatalities. We are talking about a collision with a massive piece of machinery that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The kind of force generated when a vehicle of that bulk crashes into a much smaller vehicle, can be strong enough to cause catastrophic injuries.
Truck Accident Fatalities Are Usually Traced to Trucker
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, every year, more than 5,000 people are killed in truck accidents across the country. Last year, an estimated 95 people died in Tennessee in accidents involving large commercial trucks. As Memphis truck accident lawyers see, all too often it’s the occupants of the smaller vehicle who have the higher risk of injuries in a collision with a tractor trailer. In fact, nationwide, a majority of tractor trailer accidents can be traced to the fault of the truck driver, while a majority of the fatalities involve the occupants of the smaller vehicle. Truck accidents in Tennessee can often be traced to speed, driver fatigue, alcohol or drug use, poor truck maintenance and defective road conditions.
Last week, the Senate conducted confirmation hearings for President Obama's nominee for head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The choice of Anne Ferro is a controversial one because of her past as a truck industry lobbyist in Maryland. As a lobbyist, Ferro had voiced her strong support for a rule passed by the Bush Administration, increasing the number of hours a trucker could drive consecutively. Truck accident lawyers in Memphis, Tennessee, and around the country had apposed the rule because it obviously increases the risk that fatigued drivers will fall asleep at the wheel, thereby increasing the chances of an accident. There has been enough evidence to show that truckers who drive for more than 10 hours at a stretch, have their risk of an accident sharply increased. In spite of this, Ferro threw her weight behind the rule.
As a Tennessee truck accident lawyer, I am definitely concerned about Ferro's record batting for the Maryland trucking industry. Truck safety is a concern now more than ever, and I hope Ferro recognizes the importance of keeping trucklers and motorists in Tennessee, and around the country, safe.
