A tanker burned out of control after a collision with another vehicle on an on-ramp to I-95 in Bensalem around 10 a.m., Thursday morning, February 7, 2019. According to a Philadelphia Fire Department official, the driver and the passenger were critically injured in the crash, but it’s unknown if the injuries were caused by the collision or the flames.
Traffic continued on the freeway, but the ramp was shut down for almost 24 hours while crews extinguished the flames, conducted an investigation and then cleared the vehicles and debris from the ramp.
Commercial Tanker and Big Rig Crashes
Every driver has shared the road with those big commercial trucks hauling their cargo across cities and the U.S. They play a vital role in the nation’s economy by getting goods from manufacturers, ports and warehouses to homes, business and retail outlets.
However, their presence on the roads presents a danger to other motorists because of their number, size and mass. The average passenger vehicle weighs around 4,000 lbs, while a full tanker can weigh as much as 80,000 lbs. This can cause a tremendous amount of damage when it collides with another vehicle.
On the whole, truck drivers have a much lower fatality rate than do passenger vehicles. In 2018, passenger vehicle driver’s fatality rate was 58 per 1 million miles traveled, while large truck drivers rate was 14. This is probably due to the experience and training of truck drivers.
That said, in 2018, over 5,000 fatalities were attributed to collisions with large trucks, and this number increased from 2017.
How Do These Crashes Occur?
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the vast majority (59 percent) of truck crashes occur on U.S. two-lane non-divided highways, and freeways and suburban/urban streets split at 20 percent each.
While each crash is unique, there are common causes of dump truck and larger truck crashes with driver error being a common factor in many of them
- Impaired driving
- Speeding
- Reckless driving
- Distracted driving (including texting)
- Drowsy Drivers
- Load shifts
- Other driver error
If you’re in an accident in Bensalem, here’s how to get Bensalem police accident reports.
Do I need an Attorney?
If you are injured by a tanker truck or other large commercial truck, you might wonder if you need an attorney. In most cases, you do (ex. a Philadelphia truck accident lawyer near you or a Bensalem car accident lawyer). If the injuries are severe enough to cause your bills to rise and keep you out of work or interrupt your life, you need to at least talk to an attorney to get an unbiased evaluation of your case. Call the Pearce Law Firm, P.C. at (215) 557-8686, text (215) 880-6164, or email us. You can also send them a message online by clicking here.