December 20, 2008

Texas Roadway Hazards From Trucks Leaving Gas Well Sites

TEXAS-Johnson County officials are concerned about "mud" spills, the mess that some companies leave behind when waste is hauled away from drilling sites.

When trucks loaded with the mud used in the gas drilling process travel too fast along county roads, some of it spills out, and county officials are sometimes left to clean up the mess.

The Johnson County’s emergency management coordinator, said cleanup costs are mounting, and the problem is also plaguing other counties in the Barnett Shale.

The mud contains lubricants and toxic chemicals used to make the drill bit turn more easily. When mud spills onto roadways, it is like ice, sometimes leading to serious accidents.

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December 18, 2008

Heavy Truck Accidents Caused By Fatigue

Driver fatigue is responsible for up to 40% of all accidents caused by semi-truck drivers. Data from the Deptartment of Transportation show that driver fatigue causes as many as 750 deaths and nearly 200,000 injuries on an annual basis.

Under the current rules, a driver must be allowed 10 hours off duty is he has been driving for more than 11 hours and/or has been "on duty" for up to 14 hours. In addition to this daily rule is a weekly rule that requires drivers to stop operating their truck if they have been "on-duty" for either 60 hours in a 7 day period or 70 hours in an 8 day period.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has fought unsuccesfuly to tighten these rules and avoid the driver fatigue that has caused so many accidents and injured so many people.

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December 2, 2008

$23.5 M for Injuries From Semis Collision

A Kansas jury awarded $23.5 million in a lawsuit stemming from injuries in a semitrailer accident in New Mexico.

The U.S. District Judge reduced the actual award to nearly $15.3 million because the jury decided the driver of the other truck was only 65 percent at fault.

The truck driver tested positive for methamphetamine while driving a truck for Swift Transportation.

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October 14, 2008

Waxahachie Truck Accident Settles For $1.5M

WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS -- An Ellis County jury awarded two men $1.5 million as compensation for injuries they received in an 18-wheeler accident.

The two men were driving northbound on Interstate 35E in Waxahachie when a northbound 18-wheeler banged their car, causing it to roll several times. One of the men received a fractured vertebra and the other man received injury to his right knee, which required several reconstructive surgeries.
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February 28, 2008

Dallas Truck Accident kills Two

DALLAS - A deadly multiple-vehicle accident in downtown Dallas killed two people. A twenty-year-old college student was driving on Continental Avenue when she was killed after an 18-wheeler fell onto her car as it dove off the Woodall Rogers Freeway ramp that leads to Interstate 35. The driver of the truck was thrown from the vehicle and also died.

Authorities said it appeared the truck's load, a large amount of metal pipe stems, may have shifted and led to the deadly accident.

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