9mo ago

Two people killed in Texas after 350,000 pound load detaches from trailer, crushes vehicle: officials

www.yahoo.com Two people killed in Texas after 350,000 pound load detaches from trailer, crushes vehicle: officials

Authorities are investigating after an oversized load came off its trailer, causing the death of two people and leaving one person injured Saturday morning in Temple, Texas.

Imagine being crushed by a 350k pound load while out driving. Holy moly Batman!

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Let me guess: it happened because the relevant safety regulations were repealed or the authority in charge was dissolved or muzzled.
- Or perhaps because the owners of the transport company may have refused to listen to safety concerns from employees because it would require expensive upgrades and additional personnel that they didn't want to pay for.
  In either case, I am sure this will be a "No one could have predicted this" situation, the driver of the truck takes all the blame, and nothing changes regarding company policy or safety regulations.
  
  The company can only get away with this sort of thing if there isn't adequate oversight. The root cause is political. If that indeed had anything to do with it, which is speculation at this point.
  
  While this is probably what will happen because Texas, there was a really horrible limousine crash in New York and it basically destroyed the stretch limo industry
  
  Man I hope not. The owner or the truck or trucking company, or whoever was paid to transport the load, should be held liable. They paid the driver, subcontracted to an independent contractor and are therefore responsible for the performance. They could sue the driver/sub if they felt they misperformed by insurance should eat that trucking company alive for this.
  
  Depending on how the contracts are written, the transport company may now be extremely fucked too.
  This always happens. Skimp on safety to save pennies, then lose millions in equipment in a disaster. The person buying this equipment is going to demand a new one for free, and the supplier is going to point at the transporter.
  Justly so. Let them lose everything for trying to cut corners and killing people as a result.
- The load was 10 times the standard limit

I saw a picture of that.... and how the fuck does a load like that with a bajillion trailers not have police or road flasher crews in front and behind to make sure no one passes it?

(The answer is cheaping out on both cost and safety on the shipper and sender's part)
- Texas
- I thought the Army Corps of Engineers helped out with stuff like this.whatever this was it is far too big to be moved safely by regular folks.
- Well, it seems like this would be a super load in Texas. So pilot and trailing cars at least. With a route inspection ahead of time and permits. It would also probably be extra likely to be inspected by highway patrol. I can't speak to Texas, but a load like this in California would usually have police escorts and probably even basically shut down the freeways during it's travel and cars wouldn't be able to pass.
  It's not like those pilot and trailing cars have any real enforcement for other drivers, though. They'll be in contact with the truck driver to let him know what's around him and the trucks position especially around corners.
  Securing a load is usually ultimately on the driver and his CDL. That driver is going to be having a very bad day. It's hard to say how much they will go after the company, because this is an unusual load.
- Never seen those things without a police escort either but maybe that's just different regulations that don't exist in the US.
  
  Oh they exist in the US, but each state is different and Texas is one of the least regulated States because "MA FREEDUMS!" or whatever stupid shit idea Republicans sell in that state.
  
  I don't think these are even allowed in most US states. Double-trailer is the most you'll see, and even those are rare.
- And more importantly how did this thing get out of control? Were they trying to do 75MPH down the congested interstate with it?
- But, but, muh free market self regulation! Only the most moral of companies will succeed, because The People will demand it with their dollar!
- That is a fucking terrifying sight.
  And absolutely it should've had vehicle escorts. That looks like a very expensive piece of process engineering equipment. Whoever is culpable is going to take a huge financial hit.
  People dying of course is even worse, but the people making decisions only care about money -- so let them wallow in the financial loss.
- how doea a truck drive with 6 trailers or whatever that is

That article is so garbage. Words missing, no real details, all the links are spam.
- Here is the non-Fox News article:
  https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news/two-dead-one-critically-injured-after-oversized-load-falls-off-trailer
  
  "Temple police confirmed that two people died and one was seriously injured after an oversize load came off its trailer Saturday.
  Temple Fire and Rescue responded to the crash around 11 a.m. on State Highway 36, west of Highway 317.
  Crews found the oversized load pinning a vehicle beneath. The load being hauled by the transport fleet was 350,000 lbs. It took four hours to extract one victim, who was flown to the ER with life threatening injuries.
  Officials say the cause of the accident is still under investigation. The road remains closed at this time."
- Yahoo in 2024? Post Marissa Mayer? Post Verizon? Currently owned by VC crap? You're saying the article isn't good?

This is why I go out of my way to not drive by these big vehicles. I do not trust the overworked, and tired drivers, nor do I trust the companies they work for.
- I don't trust any semi nor truck.
- I think most people try to do that. I don't trust them and I never will. Too much weight and speed to give trucks the benefit of the doubt.
- You, me and anyone who has watched Final Destination

Now that's some Final Destination level shit right there.
- Imagine being late for work and getting stuck in the traffic afterward. I’d spend my whole day waiting for my imminent demise.

Reasons why I generally drive the speed limit but got the fucking gas when closing on or passing a rig...

So I take it the guy who tugged on the straps and said "This is not going anywhere" before they left is going to be fired?
(In all seriousness this is a nightmare and Texas really needs to have better large load escort rules)
- But on the upside, these two people are so free
  Thank God n Jesus that no evil regulations were holding their spirits down as they rose up to heaven, b'gawd

Reason #398 conservatives are valueless cockroaches: Deregulation.

Well, this is just an open and shut case of reckless driving, clearly the driver should have avoided the situation, and if they had, they would not have been crushed!
I mean, this is just super basic stuff, "don't get into dangerous situations" is something you learn even before learning to drive.
It's is not hard.
/s (just in case)
- Tbf if I saw a truck hauling what appears to be about a dozen trailers, I'm either passing it at Mach 8 or staying far behind it, because my brain immediately said "oh fuck that" at the 'what if' situations fueled by the photo. Actual nightmare shit.
  
  The photo isn't great, but my memory of that stretch of road is there is a curve after a bridge. If the load came off and the truck was eastbound, that giant pole would have rolled across oncoming traffic. The poor driver coming the other way never stood a chance of avoiding it.
  
  Wait until transport trucks are automated.

Maybe a cracking tower or part of one?

Flashbacks to Final Destination.

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