Saturday, January 10, 2015

MESSY TEXAS: IT LEADS THE NATION IN TRUCKING DEATHS AND ACCIDENTS, IT LEADS THE NATION IN FIRE DEATHS AND SO ON. TRUCKERS ALSO DO NOT BOTHER OBTAINING PERMITS FOR HAULING HIGHER LOADS. AT LEAST PEOPLE HAVE JOBS.



MESSY TEXAS: IT LEADS THE NATION IN TRUCKING DEATHS AND ACCIDENTS, IT LEADS THE NATION IN FIRE DEATHS AND SO ON.  TRUCKERS ALSO DO NOT BOTHER OBTAINING PERMITS FOR HAULING HIGHER LOADS. AT LEAST PEOPLE HAVE JOBS.







January 10, 2015 – The more big rigs on the road hauling higher loads, the more accidents happen. More accidents mean more injuries and deaths.
With the construction and oil boom in Texas comes far more heavy-duty truck traffic carrying everything from backhoes to crane parts, from oil rigging to large excavation equipment. “It is no surprise that on a fairly regular basis a truck rams into a bridge, misses a sharp corner due to the load being off balance, and turns over on its side, or gets jammed under a bridge overpass, unable to move.  Accidents like this can be deadly.
One such recent accident involved a backhoe, loaded on the flat deck of an 18-wheeler, hitting a bridge between Wayside and McCarthy in the Houston area.  When hauling backhoes, it is common practice to stow the arms angled and tucked in to their lowest point. That was not the case in this incident and the arms were higher than they should have been.  Luckily, the only harm done was to the bridge.
Bridges in the area are taking a real beating, especially within the Loop 610 where numerous bridges have scars to tell the tales of poorly stowed loads, and where a record of a number of deaths have occurred at their abutments.
Several deadly accidents are reported on a daily basis in the great state of Texas.  We have been reporting them here and show pictures of the destruction caused by these trucks.
Permits for hauling larger loads are mandatory and trucking companies know this.  However, those same companies may have already hauled larger than usual loads many times without reprisal. For this reason, companies see the permits as another expense to be cut where possible.  According to Texas A&M Transportation Institute researcher Dan Middleton, trucking companies know they need permits to haul larger loads, but “some just don’t care.” Or they hope they will not get caught.
The major issue here is not just the higher accident rate, it has to do with the complexities of permitting, policing and trying to keep track of larger-than-normal loads.  Carriers are doubling up to maximize their transport time and reduce the number of trips made to save money – a move that may cost someone their life.
The economy in the Houston area is on a significant upward swing, at least prior to the collapse in the oil and gas prices, and has resulted in increased truck traffic.  In 2013 there were 26 reports detailing lost loads along the highways and byways around Houston. In 2014 there has been a jump in lost load reports to 36.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s 2012 Fatality Analysis Reporting System shows that Texas is the top state in fatal crashes, with 3,021.  It is followed by California with 2,632, Florida with 2,247, North Carolina with 1,222 and Pennsylvania with 1,211. These five states accounted for more than a third of the fatal crashes in the entire country.

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EVERYONE WHO DRIVES IN PENNSYLVANIA’S ROADS KNOWS THAT FRACKING AND OTHER DRILLING ACTIVITIES CANNOT BE SAFELY ACCOMMODATED BY MUCH OF THE TRAFFIC INFRASTRUCTURE.  THE ROADWAYS HAVE BEEN DECIMATED BY THE INCREASED FRUCKING TRUCK TRAFFIC


There has been a significant increase in traffic accidents involving trucks associated with hydraulic fracturing activities in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.  PA, with its narrow and mountainous, narrow, steep, curvy and badly maintained roadways is ill-equipped to handle such increased truck traffic and the death and accident and property damage toll is a start reminder of the cost of this activity.  As the local logo in Pennsylvania goes, “Pennsylvania: find us if you can”; it means that there is a lack of traffic signs almost everywhere in the state.  This is especially true in small and/or rural communities. 
A fiery crash in Susquehanna County last week took the life of a 27-year-old Marine and father of two young boys. The SUV in which Staff Sgt. Andrew Stevens was driving reportedly was stopped behind two fracking trucks when a water truck smashed into the back of him.

The crash caused a chain reaction that sandwiched Stevens’ SUV between the water truck and the fracking truck in front of him, according to a published report. The SUV immediately went up in flames and Sgt. Stevens died at the scene.

An increase in natural gas fracking has led to a spike in traffic fatalities in towns that find their roadways filled with large drilling rigs and fracking trucks. Drilling activity increases too quickly for many small communities to keep pace in making changes in road safety, such as building new roads, improving or widening existing roads or installing traffic signals in areas where they might now be needed. The deadly consequences of this increased and unexpected traffic are seen in the death of Sgt. Andrews and other fatalities like this across the country.

An Associated Press analysis of traffic deaths and U.S. census data in six drilling states show that in some places fatalities have more than quadrupled since 2004, a period when most American roads have become much safer. According to the Associated Press, the hydraulic-fracturing process also requires 2,300 to 4,000 truck trips per well to deliver needed fluids, while older drilling techniques needed many fewer trips.

Texas, a state that has been in the midst of a multi-year fracking boom, has seen traffic deaths climb as a result. The Texas Department of Transportation reported that fatal crashes on Texas highways increased 50 percent from 2009 through 2013. This increase in fatalities came after decades of declines in Texas, just as the boom in fracking operations was beginning. Texas led the nation in traffic fatalities in 2012.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s 2012 Fatality Analysis Reporting System shows that Pennsylvania is in the top five states in fatal crashes, with 1,211, following only Texas with 3,021, California with 2,632, Florida with 2,247 and North Carolina with 1,222. These five states accounted for more than a third of the fatal crashes in the entire country.

The Associated Press reported that TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA DRILLING COUNTIES ROSE 4 PERCENT FROM 2009 TO 2013, while in the rest of the state they fell 19 percent.

While safer vehicles and highways are helping to improve traffic safety, we need to help decrease the number of accidents near fracking sites. Pennsylvania and other states need to work to improve safety in fracking towns by widening and improving roads and enforcing traffic laws. Although federal rules limit the amount of time most truckers can drive, the rules are less strict for drivers in the oil and gas industry. These laws need to be improved and enforced.

We need to do all we can do to prevent tragedies like the death of Sgt. Andrew Stevens and others who have fallen victim to fracking truck accidents.  The fracking companies for sure must pay for improving and repairing the infrastructure that they pretty much demolish with the heavy trucks they are using.