MARCH 20, 2015
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
Debris in the roadway led to a fuel spill and HazMat
situation on a Charlotte highway Friday morning.
First responders were called to I-85 Northbound near US
Highway 29, Exit 42, in the 8 o'clock hour Friday morning on reports of a
HazMat situation.
NBC Charlotte's crew on the scene says a tractor trailer ran
over something in the roadway that punctured a tire and the truck's fuel tank.
Authorities say fuel spilled out of the tractor trailer and onto the roadway,
and eventually made its way into a drain.
Crews are now working to pump out some 60 gallons of fuel.
The right lane of I-85N was closed while the cleanup was
underway.
Truck Fuel Tank Design a Safety Concern
Trucking accident cases often focus on vehicle maintenance,
the driver’s hours of service and crash reconstruction. However, there are occasions where a product
design defect is a key cause or contributing factor to the cause of a trucking
crash injury or death. Truck fuel tank
design presents such safety concerns given that the current design standard is
inherently susceptible to puncture that can lead to a leak and/or explosion.
We have all seen the gleaming aluminum tanks mounted along
each side of the semi-truck, out where they dress up the truck. They might look nice, but such an exposed position
is not where 100-200 gallons of diesel fuel should be stored. In any truck accident, this open location
risks exposing the truck fuel tanks to high-density explosions and make it
susceptible to punctures, just like the case described above. At other occasions, we have seen trucks
hitting fire hydrants and rupture their fuel tanks.
Truck Fuel Tanks puncture and/or Explode
In the United States, there are 80 to 100 burn deaths every
year for occupants of heavy trucks or other vehicles involved in
crashes with semi tractor trailers. Most of these deaths are caused by a truck’s
fuel tank either exploding on impact or leaking fuel. In both situations, the
result is an intense explosion of heat and flame.
Important Truck Fuel Tank Study
In 1989, the United States Department of Transportation
published a Heavy Truck Fuel System Safety Study. That study published detailed
recommendations along with a Failure Modes Effect Analysis (FEMA) and
a fault tree analysis that is suitable as a basis for any manufacturer to
design a safer product.
Some of the recommendations from that study include the
following:
Reducing the susceptibility of tank mounts to failure by
impact from highway structures or other vehicles
Increasing the distance to be traverses by displaced
components before they reach fuel tanks, providing protective barriers between
fuel trans and nearby components, to increase the puncture resistance of the
fuel tank.
Of particular note, the Department of Transportation study
also maintained that the objective of fuel tank design and fuel tank systems
should be to reduce the likelihood of impact or puncture under typical crash
conditions.
We believe we can improve safety and avoid environmental
damage by relocating the fuel tanks inboard so that they are less exposed, and
are shielded from potential damage due to collision or ground contact. This
allows adequate space for all accessories and systems as well as provisions for
energy absorbing materials surrounding the fuel tanks to further reduce
intrusion and prevent fuel tank rupture.
By demanding that truck manufacturers work harder to improve
safety, perhaps we can make a change in an industry that has always done it
that way. If we’re successful there,
we’ll be successful in making our roads that much safer too.