Trucking accidents occur regularly on Texas highways. On Dec. 21, the state witnessed one of its most freakish truck accidents, which resulted in two deaths. At about 2:22 a.m. on that date, a tanker-trailer heading east on I-10 in El Paso struck the protruding arm of a massive construction vehicle that was sticking out about four feet onto the highway. The collision turned part of the driver’s side of the truck into a shredded sculpture resembling a tangled web of steel.
That trucker pulled his vehicle over to inspect the damage. Within minutes, a second tractor-trailer struck the overhanging construction equipment. The violence of the impact was so strong that it crushed the cab and sent the driver of that second tractor into the sleeper section of the cab, where he collided with a sleeping passenger. The impact’s force ejected the passenger onto the highway, while the rig continued forward.
The runaway rig then struck an SUV and pushed it into the first truck, which had been sitting stationary on the berm of the road. The impact ejected the driver of the moving rig onto the highway. Both the passenger and the driver of that rig were declared dead at the scene. According to police, the construction vehicle was parked in the center median, with about four feet of the huge conveyor arm protruding onto the east inside lane of I-10.
Texas authorities conducted forensic tests and supervised clearing of I-10 for several hours after the collision, which is standard procedure in truck accidents. The press reports do not identify the owner of the construction equipment but that owner, and the driver of the vehicle just prior to the accident, are likely facing what would appear to be two wrongful death suits with substantial damages claims. The persons responsible for closing down the equipment, along with their employers, were negligent and at fault based on all the available facts currently known.
Source: livetrucking.com, “Police say fatal truck crash caused by construction equipment blocking road“, Wimberly Patton, Dec. 22, 2017