This is a prelude to having the bill passed by Congress later this year. At this point, there is no language included in the bill that would allow increases to truck size and weight. Unfortunately, it appears that Representative Michael Michaud is trying to amend the act to add language that was also included in H.R. 1799 which allowed drastic increased truck weight.

Larger trucks are the last thing we need. They don’t stop easily and tip over more frequently. Their already deficient break systems will fail if more weight is added. The heavier trucks will inflict more damage to roadways and bridges. Heavier trucks will require more fuel consumption and create higher pollution levels.

Call your member of Congress today and urge him or her to oppose any increase in the weight of tractor trailers on our highways. They are dangerous enough as it is - as the daily tragedies on the roads attest.

Edmund Theodore Jackson, a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, was driving his dump trunk down Davis Road near Farm Pond Road when he lost control and veered off onto the right shoulder. Captain Everett Clendenin of the North Carolina Highway Patrol explained that Jackson then overcompensated and caused the truck to cross the center median into oncoming traffic where Kara Walden Benton was driving with Chad Michael Benton in a Honda Civic. Ms. Benton avoided a head-on collision by driving onto the shoulder of the road but still could not escape the dump truck which then tipped over directly on to the car. Chad Benton was able to quickly escape the vehicle before being treated at WakeMed but Ms. Benton was pinned inside the car for nearly two hours (!) before she was rescued and treated.

The Dakota was travelling in the Pleasant Hill community around 8:15 PM. Unfortunately, the Dodge was carrying a load of yard debris that reportedly was hanging over the back of the vehicle, obscuring the view of its rear lights. Georgetown residents Michael Elliott, age 28, and his son were riding in the bed of the Dodge pickup when the driver of a logging truck ran into the rear of the vehicle. Mr. Elliott died at the scene from his injuries. His son is expected to recover from his injuries. The driver of the Dodge pickup was charged with driving under the influence.

This collision had several contributing factors: an intoxicated driver, passengers in the bed of a pickup, and a load that covered the taillights. Any of these factors alone could lead to a tragedy, but the combination proved deadly when a multi-ton tractor trailer is the impacting vehicle.

Thanks to the Sun News and SCnow for reporting.

Investigators are still trying to piece together what exactly happened in the October 28 crash. According to initial reports, the 2002 Freightliner tractor trailer was traveling on Interstate 20 in the westbound lane, when for some reason, its rear tires got detached, and flew right off across the median, and into the Miller's car. The tires landed on top of the Accord, leaving the couple inside with severe head injuries. The Honda was thrown off the road, and pushed down an embankment. According to reports, the couple died instantly.

The two were wearing seatbelts at the time of the truck accident, although it's doubtful how much of a safety impact these could have had, considering the massive physical force that must have been exerted by the heavy trailer tires landing on their car.

Freakish as this truck accident sounds, it's not all that rare. Investigations have yet to determine the cause of the tires becoming loose the way they did. One possibility is that there were maintenance or manufacturing defects that were at play here. According to tractor trailer mechanical experts, there could be several reasons why trailer tires could get detached. It is possible that the maintenance of the trailer could have been shoddy, as often happens when trucking companies attempt to cut overheads, and focus on profits. Over tightening or under tightening of the bolts could have caused the tires to become loose. There could also have been inferior quality or wrong parts used in the vehicle, which is again a result of poor fleet maintenance. The cause of this particular tragedy has yet to be determined.

Malfunctioning of parts leading to accidents is common when large commercial trucks are not maintained properly. When the vehicle is a large tractor trailer weighing tens of thousands of pounds, it's obvious that any truck accidents that result will only leave devastating consequences.

This is exactly why hiring an experienced truck accident attorney in the aftermath of a trailer accident is so important. Remember, no matter how much a truck accident seems like a freak accident, it rarely is. There is a sordid tale of negligence and just plain callousness that lies behind the massive destruction caused by most trucking accidents like this one. Experienced counsel in these kinds of cases can launch investigations into fleet maintenance records, to establish the presence of shoddy maintenance practices at the trucking company.

As I have noted several times on this blog, highway interchanges are frequently the location for big trucks overturning. I make it a practice to give all vehicles, particularly trucks, extra room on interchanges to give myself more time to react to speed changes and unusual behavior. Very often, however, other drivers just don't have time to react to poor driving by truck drivers, and severe injuries can result.

Be careful out there!

A Ford Expedition following the rig swerved to avoid the wreck and ended up in the ditch, leaving its driver uninjured. Emergency medical services transported the driver of the Postal Service truck to a Savannah hospital. The trucker reportedly also was injured, but refused medical treatment at the scene.