Flames Engulfed Truck in Fatal D.C. Crash

Last month in D.C., a truck crashed into a work zone area while driving on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and hit a bucket truck and crash-attenuator truck, which resulted in an explosive blast. The driver was killed immediately in the explosion that propelled heavy clouds of rising dark smoke into the air.

The scene of the crash is still under investigation and the cause is largely unknown, but the incident raises additional important questions. What could the cause of the fire have been? Are there any steps that drivers on the highway can take to better share the road with truck drivers?

Common Reasons for Vehicle Fires

Officials have stated that the cause is unclear as to why the truck deviated into the work area that was marked correctly on the left shoulder area of the highway. There is not usually just one cause for a vehicle fire. It’s more probable that several factors played a role: a combination of chemical, mechanical, and human causes and the combination produced a highly hazardous scenario.

Minimizing Future Accidents

Semi trucks are the heaviest vehicles on the highway and can cause serious damage when an accident occurs. The NHTSA has reported that 1% of truck accidents are fatal, and 23% of those involved in a truck collision end up with injuries. Unfortunately, the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation found that automobiles are not very skilled in sharing the highway with semi trucks as it is.

American vehicles cause about 75% of fatalities that occurred from truck-related accidents, sometimes inadvertently. Staying out of a semi truck’s blind spots is one tactic to avoid potential fatal collisions. Side-view mirrors can give drivers an accurate depiction of their position, or drivers can just turn their head and can see.

“Blind spots on a semi-truck are much larger than on a typical vehicle, and when a car drives in a larger truck’s blind spot the truck driver often may not even realize that a car is there,” stated George Sink Jr., attorney at George Sink P.A. Vehicles used to traveling in the tractor-trailer blind spot could encounter a highly dangerous situation.

Blind spots are located on a tractor-trailer’s side, in a similar place where they are on a vehicle – but these are much bigger. Vehicle drivers who can’t see the side-view mirrors located on both sides of a truck cab are probably hidden from the semi-truck driver’s view. Another semi-truck blind spot is located at the very rear of the trailer and can be up to 300 feet long. Also, there is a 15-20 feet area in front of a truck cab that is a third blind spot.

When fatal accidents occur, it is the duty of all affected to examine the situation and reevaluate to see how response in a similar situation could be improved in the future. In the future, the aim should be to reduce future accidents through investigation, preventative efforts, and awareness.