Georgia Injury Law Blog
A truck accident involving a tanker truck and an 18-wheeler in Bryan County earlier in April resulted in the death of the tanker driver.The truck accident occurred on Thursday when the gasoline tanker truck, which was heading south on Interstate 95, crashed into the rear of the 18-wheeler. Of course, 18 wheeler accidents are some of the worst that are seen on our roadways.
The tanker truck suffered serious damage in the accident, and the driver was trapped in the truck.When the driver of the 18 wheel got out, he noticed the beginning of a fire in the tanker.He was able to escape in time to avoid the massive explosion that ripped through the tanker, killing the driver instantly.The fire from the explosion lasted for more than two hours.
According to the 18-wheeler driver, he saw the tanker truck coming up from behind him, and flashed his lights.However, the tanker simply ran into his carrier.The driver of the tanker truck didn’t try to apply his brakes. Police are investigating the possibility that the tanker truck driver had dozed off at the wheel.However, investigations are bound to be impacted by the fact that the tanker truck driver died in the accident, and his vehicle has been too severely damaged to detect mechanical failures.No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Driver fatigue has been a major source of concern to Atlanta truck accident attorneys and federal trucking safety authorities.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has posted a Proposed Rulemaking for Hours of Service for truck drivers. The agency is currently taking comments from the public about the Hours of Service rules.
Fatigue has been a vastly underestimated cause of auto accidents a while now, but in the trucking industry, it has been clear for many years now that fatigued, drowsy and sleepy truckers are a serious risk to their own safety as well as the safety of others.