Atlanta Truck Accident: I75 -Two wrecks, Five vehicles, Three injured on I-75N

Five cars, a tractor-trailer and a box truck were involved in the separate incidents that happened just after 1 p.m., Marietta Police spokeswoman Jennifer Murphy said.

As of 2 p.m., Murphy said the center lane was open and wreckers were on the scene.

It was unclear whether one wreck triggered the other, Murphy said.

Traffic was delayed as far south as Delk Road, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Georgia: Dump Truck Statutes and Rules

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Have you ever driven down a road and looked upon a dump truck that has sand, materials, or worse spilling out of it? There are law which require the covering of dump trucks or restrict the spillage of loads on the highways.

There are laws of varying degrees, broken down into four areas:

A - Laws which require covering
B - Laws which require covering in limited instances
C - Laws which restrict spillage and require the secure fastening of loads and covers
D - Laws which restrict spillage only

Effective enforcement is the key to increased highway safety through dump truck covering. A strict law is sometimes not enough. In Georgia strict enforcement of "C"-type laws has resulted in most dump trucks being covered.

Here's Georgia's law regarding dump trucks and covering:

Securing Loads on Vehicles: No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any public road unless such vehicle is constructed or loaded or covered so as to prevent any of its load from dropping, escaping, or shifting in such a manner as to create a safety hazard; however, this code section shall not prohibit the necessary spreading of any substance in public road maintenance or construction operations.

No person shall operate, or load for operation, on any public road any vehicle with any load unless said load and any covering thereon is securely fastened so as to prevent said covering or load from becoming loose, detached or in any manner becoming a hazard to other users of the public road.

Nothing in this code section nor any regulations based thereon, shall conflict with federal, or Georgia Public Service Commission, or Georgia Board of Public Safety regulations applying to the securing of loads on motor vehicles.

The provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section and regulations based thereon shall not apply to vehicles carrying silage from field to storage and storage to feedlot or vehicles or equipment carrying unginned cotton. 40-6-254 Transport of unsecured load; penaltyNo person shall operate any motor vehicle with a load on or in such vehicle unless the load on or in such vehicle is adequately secured to prevent the dropping or shifting of such load onto the roadway in such a manner as to create a safety hazard.? Any person who operates a vehicle in violation of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Georgia Trucking Lawyers and Georgia Truck Accidents: Q and A

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Some concerns answered:

Do large trucks have high crash rates?

On average, drivers of large trucks travel many more miles than passenger vehicle drivers. In 2007, large trucks accounted for 4 percent of registered vehicles and 7 percent of miles traveled. Per unit of travel, large trucks are involved in more fatal crashes than passenger vehicles – 1.9 compared with 1.6 crashes per 100 million miles traveled in 2006.

The disparities between large trucks and passenger vehicles vary by specific vehicle type, with cars having the lowest fatal crash rate (1.3) and tractor-trailers having the highest rate (2.2). The higher fatal crash rate for large trucks occurs although much higher proportions of their miles are traveled on interstate highways, which are the safest roads. The higher fatal crash rate is attributable to the size disparity between large trucks and passenger vehicles. Large trucks have a much lower rate per mile traveled of nonfatal crashes resulting in injuries or property damage only compared with passenger cars and light trucks.




Source here

At our offices, we spend many hours investigating all aspects of a trucking company's responsibility to a person in a wreck. We investigate to find:

* That the company carries liability insurance coverage greater than what is required for passenger vehicles;

* That all federal requirements for driver training, licensing, background checking are met;

* That all Federal trucking regulations governing how long a driver can be on the road, intended to prevent accidents due to driver fatigue or inattention were met; and that there are ...

* Strict regulations regarding limits of alcohol use by drivers were followed, as well all measures intended to prevent drug use.

Talk to us first. 404-451-7781

Georgia Fatigued Trucking: Police say Trucker was Tired, Watching Porn When Crash Happened

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It can't get much worse in terms of distractions than this story:

The operator of a tractor-trailer had been on the road too long and was watching a pornographic movie on a laptop at the time he smashed into a disabled car on the Thruway last month, killing the driver, State Police said today.

Thomas M. Wallace, 45, of Brook Park, Ohio, was charged Tuesday with second-degree manslaughter following a lengthy probe into the Dec. 12 crash in Pembroke that killed Julie I. Stratton, 33, a Snyder mother of two young boys.

Read the rest here.

Truckers: Texting Ban Should Apply to Private Motorists

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Trucking companies across the country have united in their criticism of this week's ruling to ban texting whilst driving in trucks – because it doesn’t go far enough. Overall support for the ruling was overwhelming with many of the nation’s haulage and drayage groups having already introduced a ban on their own staff using the technology whilst in motion. But what of private motorists?

Recent studies suggest that any activity which draws the driver’s eyes from the road will adversely affect their ability to control the vehicle.

Source here.

Georgia Truck Fatality in Morgan County

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A fatal accident Monday shut down westbound traffic on Interstate 20 near Rutledge for nearly three hours.
According to Georgia State Patrol Senior Trooper Larry Seabolt, Larry Jones, 49, Fayetteville, Ga., died instantly when the 2008 Suzuki Forenza he was driving eastbound on Interstate 20 crossed through the median and struck the side of a tanker truck.

Seabolt said the accident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. east of the Rutledge/ Newborn exit. Westbound traffic was re-routed off Interstate 20 at the Rutledge/Newborn exit while emergency workers removed debris from the collision.
David Matthew White, 48, Decatur, was driving the 2009 Freightliner transfer truck that Jones’ Suzuki struck but was not injured in the accident.

http://www.morgancountycitizen.com/?q=node/12547