Coal Truck Driver Fatally Injured in Collision With another Coal Tractor-Trailer

The following report is the product of our Cooperative State partner and is presented here in its original unedited form from the state. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the individual Cooperative State partner and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

SUMMARY

During the winter of 2008, a 39 –year-old tractor-trailer driver died after striking the right rear of a coal tractor-trailer with his vehicle, then veering into an embankment, rolling over and catching fire. The driver of a coal tractor-trailer (Truck 1) and the decedent driver of a second coal tractor-trailer (Truck 2) had descended a hill in the lane next to one another on a four-lane undivided highway. Truck 1 stopped at a traffic light at an intersection at the bottom of a hill while Truck 2 approached the intersection from behind in the left lane. The light turned green so that Truck 2 did not need to stop for the traffic light. Truck 1 advanced from the traffic light and began to climb another hill. Truck 2 approached Truck 1 on the hill, struck the right rear of Truck 1, veered to the left, struck an embankment, and rolled over. Upon impact, driver of Truck 2 was thrown into the sleeper compartment. Emergency medical services and the local coroner arrived on the scene. The coroner pronounced the driver dead at the scene.

Coal Truck Driver Fatality Injured in Collision Involving with another Coal Tractor-Trailer [PDF 277 KB]