Team semi driver dies after rig is struck by impaired driver.
Authors
University of Kentucky
Source
Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 07KY091, 2010 Feb; :1-8
During the early hours one fall morning, a husband and wife driving team were traveling west on a divided interstate highway. A concrete barrier separated the four east bound lanes from the four west bound lanes. The wife was driving while the husband was asleep in the sleeper berth. Driving conditions were dark and the pavement dry. They were traveling in the second lane from the median and there was a passenger car to the right of the semi in the third lane from the median traveling next to the front wheel well and bumper. The passenger car driver veered into the front right wheel/ bumper area of the semi. In an attempt to avoid the car, the semi driver steered to the left, but the car struck the semi's right steering wheel. The passenger car driver tried to steer away from the semi, but the car was stuck in the wheel well. The semi and the passenger car, crossed the left travel lane and shoulder. The semi tractor-trailer struck the barrier wall, and jackknifed; the trailer flipped over the concrete barrier twisting the semi into a barrel roll onto its top. The husband was ejected from the semi truck and died at the scene. The driver of the passenger car was determined to have a blood alcohol level of 0.21 g/100 ml at the time of the incident. To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: Recommendation No. 1: Underage drivers convicted of driving under the influence should be required to have an ignition diversion interlock device installed on their vehicle. Recommendation No. 2: Passengers using the sleeper berth in a moving semi should use the restraint system currently provided by the manufacturer. Recommendation No. 3: Concrete median barrier wall heights located in high traffic areas should be a installed at a height that prohibits tractor trailers from flipping over the barrier. Recommendation No. 4: A safety needs assessment should be performed on the trucking industry.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.