Driver in accident caused by a trailer that
detached from the cab is cited for two violations on I-95 in Greenwich,
CT. The trailer was overloaded and was
not properly locked into place.
State Police issued two violations in the wake of a
runaway trailer crash on I-95 in Greenwich last month.
The driver of the rig, whose load detached from the cab
and crashed into another vehicle near exit 4 on the morning of Dec. 22, was
issued a summons by state police. Investigators determined the trailer was not
properly locked into place.
The harrowing crash, which led to a Toyota RAV4 being
slammed up and onto the concrete median barrier, was also blamed on another
safety lapse, overloading the trailer.
State police said Henry Nunez, 37, of Woodhaven, N.Y.,
was driving the truck south near the Cos Cob exit in the center lane alongside
the Toyota. When the truck went into a slight curve there, the trailer
detached, and it slammed into the SUV driven by Patricia Jordan, 48, of
Plymouth, Mass. The trailer skidded across the roadway for 590 feet, raising a
plume of white smoke, before coming to rest. The truck driver pulled over
nearby, uninjured.
Jordan, reached by phone this week, described a nightmare
behind the wheel, a near-death experience. She was on her way to Fordham
University to pick up her daughter for the holidays.
"It was awful," she said of the accident.
"As it was crushing me against the Jersey barrier, I didn't realize the
trailer was detached. I kept waiting for (the truck driver) to turn away. It
seemed to be forever. Then I thought, `I'm going over.'"
Her vehicle eventually came to rest on top of the barrier.
Jordan said she was moved by the help she received
immediately after the accident -- fellow motorists who helped her get out of
the vehicle and safely off the road.
"There were so many people, beautiful people who
helped me, even before the police and EMT's got there. A lot of good Samaritans
in that area," she recalled.
Jordan was transported to Stamford Hospital after
experiencing a sore neck and back. She said she was seeking physical therapy
for those maladies.
After issuing a ticket to Nunez for not properly
securing the trailer, the State Police's truck squad determined the load was
88,280 pounds, exceeding the authorized weight limit of 80,000 pounds. A
citation was issued to the trucking company, Fast Xpress of Elizabeth, N.J. A
call to the company was not returned. The truck was carrying
corrugated cardboard.
A trailer detaching from its cab is an unusual
occurrence -- but a terrifying one for nearby motorists when it happens.
"Runaway trailer accidents may be rare, but when
the trailer is heavy and speed high, motorists have little time to react,"
said Robert Steinhaus, an attorney who handles lawsuits involving
truck accidents.
Given the size of the trailers, accidents involving the
big rigs can be catastrophic. A runaway trailer claimed the lives of seven
people riding in a minivan in upstate New York in 2013.
Following that disaster, a review by the Associated
Press of five years of fatal crashes involving large trucks found that 0.10
percent -- or one in a thousand -- involved the truck's couplings, hitches or
chains, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data.
"It's very rare but it does happen, and can be very
serious," said Ralph Craft, a crash-data analyst with the federal agency,
in the AP report.
A spokesman with the state Department of Transportation
notes that responsible driving and maintenance is the key to safety.
"No matter what the mode of transportation -- car,
tractor-trailer, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian -- there are always,
unfortunately, irresponsible individuals. Those irresponsible individuals cause
crashes, damages, injuries, and unfortunately, loss of life," DOT
representative Kevin Nursick stated in an e-mail.
"That said, in our experience, and speaking in
general, tractor trailer operators, and other big truck drivers, tend to be
better than most when it comes to operating safely. They are career drivers,
with professional-level experience most of the time, and they tend to operate
that way, like pros. When something does go wrong involving a big rig,
regardless of the cause and who is at fault -- it does tend to be a more
`spectacular' incident, and I think people tend to remember that,"
Nursick concluded.