User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News
Google
 
Loading

May 29, 2017

SIDE GUARDS FOR TRUCKS * USA: To avoid deadly aacidents

* DC -  'These crashes are catastrophic.' The deadly impact of truck underride crashes

 (Video from Cox Washington - May 10, 2017) 

--- The car smashed into the tractor-trailer, wedging beneath it and rocketing out of the other side as a tangle of steel... An investigation by the Cox Media Group Washington News Bureau looked at underride fatalities from the past five years using federal crash statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The numbers show 1,433 fatalities linked to underride collisions from 2011 to 2015, with 299 deaths in 2015... For the first time, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash-tested a car traveling 35 mph hitting a truck equipped with a side guard... Video of the collision shows the sedan bouncing off the side guard with the dummy's head protected by the airbag in a survivable crash. The IIHS ran the same experiment with a car slamming into a truck without a side guard. The dummy's head violently smashes into the side of the big rig as the car jams beneath the truck in what likely would be a fatal collision... Since 1952, the federal government has required underride guards for the back of trucks as protection in rear-end collisions... Side guards add significant weight and can cause cracks in the frame rails of trailers, creating another safety issue, Sean McNally, a spokesman for the American Trucking Association, said... 
Washington, DC, USA - Cox Media Group/WPXI, by Patrick Terpstra - May 10, 2017

Labels: , ,

posted by Unknown @ 5:43 AM  0 comments

Jul 1, 2016

TESLA CARS' FIRST SELF-DRIVING FATAL CRASH * USA

NHTSA probes Tesla self-driving cars after fatal crash

--- Federal regulators are investigating self-driving technology used in Tesla cars after a fatal crash involving a 2015 Tesla Model S that was operating with its automated driving system activated... It is believed to be the first U.S. death in a vehicle engaged in a semi-autonomous driving feature, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would not confirm that... NHTSA said Thursday it received reports from Tesla about a crash in Williston, Florida, near Gainesville, on May 7 with the vehicle operating in its “Autopilot” mode... NHTSA said preliminary reports say the crash happened when a semi-trailer rig turned left in front of the Tesla at a highway intersection. Police said the roof of the car struck the underside of the trailer and the car passed beneath. The car went off the road, striking two wire fences and a power pole before coming to a rest about 100 feet away. The driver was dead at the scene... Tesla says more than 130 million miles have been driven by its cars with Autopilot switched on and there has been only one death. By comparison, the company claims there is, on average, a death on US roads for every 94 million miles driven, and worldwide that figure falls to 60 million... When switched on, Autopilot asks the driver to keep their concentration on the road and hands on the wheel. If they do not, then the car will sound an alert. If they continue to keep their hands off the wheel, the car will slow to a stop and switch on the hazzard lights... 
(Photo: Tesla Driver's seath using car's 'Autopilot' was Iivolved in fatal crash, US says)  --  Gainesville, FL, USA - The Detroit New, by Melissa Burden, Keith Laing and Michael Wayland - June 30, 2016

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 12:36 PM  0 comments

Jun 27, 2016

FATAL ACCIDENTS * Australia: 82% cars drivers was a fault

* ACT - 'Cars at fault in 82% of fatal crashes with trucks'
--- A blog posted to the Driver Safety Australia website recently says car (non-truck) drivers are at fault in 8 out of 10 fatal accidents that involve a truck and another vehicle, according to the latest study into serious truck accidents by the National Transport Insurance (NTI) accident research centre... The NTI Major Accident Investigation Report found that in 7 out of 10 major truck accidents there are no other vehicles involved. However, in fatal crashes involving other vehicles, the other driver was at fault in 82% of the accidents... NTI has reinforced the findings of its National Truck Accident Research Centre (NTARC) study following the broadcast last week of footage that showed a crash between a truck and car in a busy tunnel. Truck drivers hit back saying that car drivers are the root cause of many accidents... The investigation covered 323 major crash incidents ($50,000 in value) from 2009 with a combined cost of $44m. The NTI Major Accident Investigation Report also found: 
 - Inappropriate speed for the conditions and fatigue are the leading causes of serious truck accidents at 41.9%. Fatigue-related serious truck crashes have reduced by 50% since the last study 
 - NSW has 36.5% of major truck crashes, a figure which has worsened since the 2007 NTI truck crash incident data analysis 
 - Victoria has an improved result, with WA and Queensland overrepresented in major truck accidents relative to the freight task. Queensland's Bruce and Warrego Highways were the worst with proportionally more incidents than any other major roads. 
 - Losses on the Hume dropped substantially since 2003, from 11.1% to 2.5% of major truck crashes 
 - The bigger they are, the safer they are - B-doubles carry 46% of freight yet account for only 28% of serious truck crashes. 
... NTI has used the research to establish a new panel of experts to address safety issues within the road transport industry... 
(Photo: Truck driver presumed dead in fiery fatal crash found alive. Scene of the fatal car crash on the Glenelg Highway, just north of Tarrington) -- Canberra, ACT, Australia - Big Rigs - 24th Jun 2015

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 12:04 PM  0 comments

Jun 2, 2015

TANKER EXPLOTION * Nigeria: Brakes failed

* Anambra State -  Runaway oil tanker kills 69 in horrific explosion in bus station

-- Nigeria's Red Cross says a runaway oil tanker truck exploded in a crowded bus station in the south of the country, igniting 11 other vehicles and burning 69 people to death... Red Cross Chairman Peter Emeka Kathy said on Monday (1 June) that about 30 other victims have been hospitalised with severe burns... The tanker was laden with petrol when its brakes failed on Sunday (31 May) night and it ploughed into the bus station at Onitsha, the capital of southern Anambra State, according to local officials... Neglected refineries mean that Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil producer, is almost entirely reliant on imports for the 40 million litres of gasoline it consumes each day... 
(Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP - The congested bus station in Onitsha where a tanker exploded and set other vehicles alight)  --  Onitsha, Nigeria - IB Times, by Elsa Buchanan & Ludovica Iaccino - June 1, 2015

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:00 AM  0 comments

Mar 19, 2015

DANGEROUS TRUCKING Co. * USA: Fatal Pittsburg big-rig accident could have been prevented

* California - "In 42 years of working for trucking companies and being a driver, this company ranks as the worst"
-- Maintenance violations from a company connected to a fatal accident in which a big rig crashed into a restaurant at a strip mall in Pittsburg Monday... The California Highway Patrol says it has a list of violations that suggest the deadly accident could have been prevented... ABC7 News spent the day looking into the safety of that big rig and the company that owns it. It turns out, Roby Trucking has a dubious record. The California Highway Patrol provided a stack of violations, which included all sorts of problems that came as no surprise to present and former employees. For example, in one case a big rig was driven without a lug nut... Roby Trucking owns the big rig that crashed into a Pittsburg restaurant Monday, killing the driver...  Witnesses say the brakes failed, which is no surprise to Harvey, based on mechanical failures he says he has seen on trucks at the company. "Tires, brakes, drums, air lines, oil lines, water lines," he said... In a yard inspection last October, the CHP found Roby Trucking to be unsatisfactory in all categories, including record keeping... The most eye-popping violation was a roadside inspection that showed one big rig to be overloaded by 16,000 pounds... 
(Photo: Roby Trucking company connected to big-rig fatal accident in Pittsburg, could have been prevented)  --  Pittsburg, CAL, USA - KGO, by Wayne Freedman - March 17, 2015


* Texas -  Crashes leading on-the-job cause of death for US truck drivers

-- Vehicle crashes account for the overwhelming majority of on-the-job deaths for truck drivers nationwide, a recent Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows...  Overall, 317,000 motor vehicle crashes involving large trucks were reported to police in 2012, costing the US economy an estimated $99 billion that year. About 2.6 million workers in the US drive trucks that weigh over 10,000 pounds. After dropping to 35-year lows in 2009, the number of crash fatalities of truck drivers or their passengers increased between 2009 and 2012...  Approximately 700 drivers of large trucks or their passengers died in crashes in 2012, and an estimated 26,000 were injured. About 65 percent of on-the-job deaths of truck drivers in 2012 were the result of a motor vehicle crash...  More than a third of the drivers who died were not wearing a seat belt... This Vital Signs report includes data from the National Survey of US Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury, conducted by CDC at 32 truck stops along interstate highways across the United States in 2010...
(Photo by Cheyenne Benson)  --  San Angelo,TXS,USA -The San Angelo Live, by Chelsea Reinhard - Mar. 17, 2015

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 5:33 AM  0 comments

Feb 5, 2013

DANGEROUS ROADS * Australia

* 13 percent fall in truck crashes 

(Photo)
Canberra,ACT,Australia -BITRE.gov -1, Feb 2013: -- Over the past five years, the number of fatal truck crashes has decreased by 13 per cent, the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, Catherine King, announced today... Ms King was commenting on the June 2012 issue of the BITRE Fatal heavy vehicle crashes Australia quarterly bulletin, released today, which shows that that 225 people died in 200 crashes involving heavy trucks or buses on Australian roads between July 2011 and June 2012... The report shows that NSW recorded the highest number of deaths from crashes involving a heavy vehicle, followed by Queensland and then Victoria... To combat this, Transport for NSW has released a guide to 40 of the most common heavy vehicle safety technologies, including crash avoidance, protective and other systems and devices...

Labels: , ,

posted by Unknown @ 6:29 AM  0 comments

Jul 27, 2012

ACCIDENTS STATISTICS * Australia

* ACT - Heavy vehicle crash deaths continue to fall 

Canberra,ACT,Australia -AG DOIT -27 July 2012: -- The number of deaths from heavy vehicle crashes continues to fall according to the latest quarterly bulletin on fatal heavy vehicle crashes from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics... While deaths from crashes involving articulated trucks remained at 141 for both 2010 and 2011, heavy rigid truck crash fatalities fell from 83 in 2010 to 71 in 2011... The 40-59 age group had the highest number of fatalities from heavy vehicle crashes with 82 deaths in 2011 – nearly double that of any other age group. The over 60 age group was the next highest, with 43 fatalities...

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 6:43 AM  0 comments

Apr 3, 2011

Traffic Fatalities * USA -- At Record Lows -Though Not In All Regions-

Despite having driven 21 billion additional miles in 2010, versus 2009, Americans were safer yet on the roadways

Washington,DC,USA -The Car Connection -1 April 2011: -- Freshly released numbers from the federal government showing highway fatalities at their lowest rate since 1949—and, technically, "the lowest level in recorded history," as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts it here...  That's particularly impressive as Americans drove an additional 21 million miles in 2010 versus 2009...  Nationally, fatalities were down three percent, to a total of 32,788 in 2010, based on early figures released this week. Adjusted, that's 1.09 deaths per million miles traveled in 2010, versus 1.13 in 2009. And it's a 25-percent drop in fatalities in just five years...  During 2009, fatalities also dropped to record lows, with last year's numbers the lowest since 1954...  Safety officials will no doubt be watching the 2011 numbers, as fatality rates again started rising for the last half of 2010, as drivers again started covering more miles in their vehicles...  In a blog post on the news, Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, emphasized that the agency will continue its enforcement programs for seatbelt use, driving under the influence, and distracted driving. For the latter, LaHood pointed to federal government's distracted-driving campaign, the Faces of Distracted Driving...  The Secretary also said that several measures including Safety Edge roadway surfaces—which lessen the chances of loss of control and or rollover if a motorists swerves off (and back onto) the roadway—and highway rumble strips and cable barriers as increasing safety for U.S. motorists...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 8:53 AM  0 comments

Apr 24, 2010

Traffic Deaths * USA - Down, but not low enough

Traffic fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled

Washington,DC,USA -USA TODAY, by Larry Copeland -12 April 2010: -- Fewer Americans are killed in automobile crashes than at any time since the 1950s, but the nation can do better — much better, according to a growing number of highway safety advocates and transportation officials pushing the USA to adopt a goal of zero traffic fatalities... The approach is called Toward Zero Deaths, based on a philosophy that even one road death is morally and ethically unacceptable. The goal: to alter behaviors that cause fatalities, such as speeding, drunken or distracted driving, and lack of seat belts. Speeding is a factor in more than 31% of road deaths, drunken driving in 32%, and distracted driving in about 16%. And 55% of those killed in passenger vehicles are not wearing seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration... Last year, 33,963 people died in traffic crashes in the USA, an 8.9% decline from 2008 and the lowest total since 1954, according to the Department of Transportation. The fatality rate of 1.16 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was the lowest since the government started tracking it in 1966... (Photo by Andy King / USA TODAY - Perry Wingen, left, and Alan Terpstra, of Minnesota Department of Public Safety, install new poles on the cable median guardrails in the center of Interstate-35 on Thursday. The State Patrol calls these "shredders" because they virtually destroy automobiles but allow occupants to walk away)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 4:53 PM  0 comments

Apr 1, 2010

FATALITY * USA - Trucking company in fatal crash had low safety rating

Louisville,KY,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker, by Kevin Jones -31 March 2010: -- The Alabama trucking company involved in a fatal crash that killed 11 people in Kentucky had a poor safety rating from federal regulators... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gave Hester Inc. a driver safety rating of 88.4 in February based on inspections during the past 30 months. The agency uses a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the worst score. Any score of 75 or more is considered "deficient"... The rating is based on the roadside inspections and moving violations of Hester's 30 drivers... Kentucky State Police say the driver of a tractor-trailer crossed the median of Interstate 65 in central Kentucky on March 26, slamming into a van and killing 11 people and himself... Two young children survived the crash, which remains under investigation... (AP Photo/Daily News, Joe Imel)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 11:41 AM  0 comments

Jan 8, 2010

STATISTICS * Ireland - 2009 safest year on record

2009 was the safest year on Ireland’s roads since road deaths were first recorded in 1959

Dublin,Ireland -HGV Ireland -January 4, 2010: ... According to the Road Safety Authority, which has released provisional road safety figures for the year... A total of 240 people tragically lost their lives on Irish roads in 2009. This is 39 fewer fatalities compared to 279 deaths in 2008... “The biggest challenge facing us now is to change the culture of speeding in this country through enforcement and educational campaigns. The introduction of a network of safety cameras across the country in mid 2010 will play a leading role in tackling this problem,” concluded Gay Byrne, Chairman, Road Safety Authority...

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 5:58 AM  0 comments

Dec 17, 2009

Death on the Roads * UK - Guide and map to

The BBC has published an interactive map and guide to death on Britain’s roads, using Department for Transport data from 1999 to 2008

London,UK -HGV UK -December 17, 2009: ... It reports that in total, 32,298 people have been killed on Britain’s roads over the past decade... Cathy Keeler, deputy chief executive of Brake said: “We know that communities are terribly concerned about the road deaths they see reported week in, week out in their local papers. Anyone who glibly says ‘We can’t worry about it; we’d never go out’ is blindly ignoring one of the worst social ills in our country... There’s plenty to be scared of: this is an epidemic that strikes indiscriminately, affecting people of all ages, devastating communities. If more than 30,000 people had been killed on trains or planes in the last ten years there would be a national outcry and politicians would be falling over themselves in the rush to implement policies to stop the carnage. We need politicians with a vision of a society that does not tolerate death or injury on roads, and the will to take positive action to ensure that no-one’s love of risk-taking on roads endangers anyone’s right to life”... (Photo from news.bbc)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 12:17 PM  0 comments

Nov 25, 2009

Deadly Driving Distractions * USA - Include More Than Texting

Over 37K lives are tragically lost each year on US roads

Washington,DC,USA -PRNewswire/Automotive Digest -November 20, 2009: -- Distractions can cut reaction time in half w/ vehicle still moving toward crash... Driver fatigue leads to driver inattentiveness and 100K crashes/yr... Phone conversations, even hands free, or daydreaming take attention from road... Adjusting radio or MP3 player demands attention... Lazy lane changes w/o checking over both shoulders lead to crashes... Texting is just latest in long line of distractions that are having deadly consequences...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:47 PM  0 comments

Oct 5, 2009

FATAL ACCIDENT * UK - Demand to test foreign truckers

London,UK -BBC News -2 Oct 2009: -- The family of a couple killed in a crash with a Hungarian lorry driver are calling for overseas drivers working in Britain to have to pass a UK test... Kenneth Davies, 79, and his wife Daisy, 77, from Welshpool, Powys, died in April 2008 when Istvan Kotorman's vehicle cut across their path... Kotorman was given a suspended jail term after he admitted causing death by careless driving at Mold Crown Court... The couple's three sons have said the sentence was "ridiculously light"... (Photo: Istvan Kotorman turned into the path of Kenneth and Daisy Davies)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 8:15 PM  0 comments

Jul 17, 2009

FATAL ACCIDENTS * USA - Heat, fatigue may be factors in Oklahoma

Oklahoma City,OK,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker -16 July 2009: -- A 76-year-old truck driver whose semi plowed into traffic that had stopped on a turnpike worked 10 hours straight delivering groceries in sweltering heat before the crash occurred, authorities said Thursday... Donald Creed of Willard, Mo., did not exceed the federal daily driving limit when he crashed on the Will Rogers Turnpike on June 26, but investigators believe fatigue may have contributed to the crash, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Scott Horton, said. "We're also looking at the extreme heat as a possible factor," Horton said... Temperatures were in the upper 90s across eastern Oklahoma on the day of the crash... (Photo: Donald Creed of Willard, Mo., did not exceed the federal daily driving limit when he crashed on the Will Rogers Turnpike on June 26, but investigators believe fatigue may have contributed to the crash, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Scott Horton said. "We're also looking at the extreme heat as a possible factor," Horton said)


* Crashes Fuel Debate on Rules for Older Drivers

Ruckersville,VA,USA -The Wall Street Journal, by Philip Shishkin -9 July 2009: -- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Senior Vice President for Research, Anne McCartt, notes that there is no single screening method available for identifying problem drivers before accidents happen... However, with the number of licensed drivers over age 65 increasing to 57 million by 2030 and the number of traffic accidents rising among older drivers, lawmakers are under pressure to devise regulations that restrict older drivers' mobility and reduce crashes... Lawmakers in Massachusetts continue to examine the issue, while states like Illinois and New Hampshire require road tests for drivers 75 years and older... Massachusetts lawmakers, like State Sen. Brian Joyce, hope to make road and vision tests mandatory for drivers 85 years and older. However, Safe Roads Now and elderly drivers are hoping lawmakers will pass a competing bill that provides doctors with greater leeway in reporting impairments to licensing authorities...


* Drunken Driving is Down

Washington,DC,USA -The Christian Science Monitor, by Alexandra Marks -13 July 2009: -- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) "2007 Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use" study, only 2.2 percent of American drivers are driving while intoxicated on weekends, down 71 percent from the number of drivers on the road while drunk in the 1970s... However, the survey also looked at drug use while driving for the first time and discovered that 16.3 percent of drivers have traces of drugs in their system, including marijuana, cocaine, and other stimulants, sedatives, and narcotics... While it is unclear whether these drivers were impaired while driving, experts agree that more must be done to curb drug use among drivers. Law enforcement officials had reported to the NHTSA prior to the study that some drivers pulled over did not test positive for alcohol, but still appeared to be impaired... NHTSA hopes to conduct further research into drug use among drivers to determine the impact of those substances on driver reaction times and other skills... (Photo from theadvocates: Drunk driving)

Labels: , ,

posted by Unknown @ 7:08 AM  0 comments