Awful Accident - 2010 Silverado Vs Semi

[wavery]

Why doesn't that trailer have a crash bar on the back? Its a law here in Texas to have it...

 

I don't w about it being a law (I believe it is here in indiana) but I have never seen a semi without one so I assume it was knocked off in the crash

 

the DOT bar (Department Of Transportation) is required on all trailers. also almost every state, and DOT has a min/max bumper height requirement to avoid accidents like this. when i was towing, we had quite a few like this, and almost all the DOT bar was heavily damaged , or ripped off the trailer. the bars are pretty tough but 6,000 lb plus truck @ 60+ mph the bar will not survive..

 

I have to think that the "DOT bar" must have a maximum impact rating. Gotta think that it would be something like 5K# @ 20 or 30MPH or something like that. There is no way that they can build a bar to withstand a 60MPH impact from a 6K# vehicle. Even if they did, hitting that bar @ 60 would probably just cut the truck in 2 and kill the driver anyway.

[Dzlbudman]

Well I don't even see it. You would think it would at least slow the truck (p/u) down some to not completly go under the trailer.

[ColeTrains03]

Man those DOT bars are nasty. That truck had no chance hittting that trailer at 60mph. I've seen a couple of a duramax '04 Silverado that hit one and the bar was fine, just bent a little and it completely ripped the drivers side of the truck right off as well as most of the front of it. It's insane the amount of impact they can take. I saw one of a C5 'vert that that was toasted and killed the driver and didn't even bend the bar.

[MikeNH]

I wonder if it would have been just as bad with on older chevy truck like 90's model and below. I once wrecked into the back of a van that was almost completely stopped going 40-45 mph and all that I ended up replacing was the front clip that was hardly messed up at all. I know I was going around 20mph slower but still those trucks back then seemed stout IMO.

 

 

Just as bad if not worse.

 

You hit a van where the impact was spread out over the whole front of the truck most likely. This driver hit the bar and had all that force on a small area. The thin sheet metal of newer trucks doesn't decrease chances of crash survivability whatsoever. There is no crash situation I'd rather be in an older vehicle for, newer ones are just safer in every way.

[txab]

Why doesn't that trailer have a crash bar on the back? Its a law here in Texas to have it...

 

I've seen them sheared clean off before. As stated it's not designed to withstand the forces of this crash in most instances.

[cracked_up]

I think if you zoom in you can see the DOT bumper folded up under the truck.

[2010LTZ4x4]

I say there was no DOT bar at all.

That truck made it to far under the trailer for it to have a bar on it and it be bent out of the way on impact. . And for it to snap clean off on impact I highly doubt it.

[6.2 GMC]

Holy smokes! not many salvageable parts left on this rig

[Stevens03]

Holy smokes! not many salvageable parts left on this rig

 

What about the poor guy

[becker87]

Horrible crash, prayers go out to him and his family.

[lineman]

Thats is a nasty crash. Feel bad for the driver of the truck but the semi driver also that would be hard to live with.

[BlackZ71Silverado]

Wow, that's even hard to look at. Hope his family is doing alright, it's got to be hard after something like that happens.

 

Those DOT bars are there ONLY to prevent a smaller sized vehicle from completely driving under the rig. It's a shame with all the technology available they can't come up with anything better.

[dirtfan21]

Why doesn't that trailer have a crash bar on the back? Its a law here in Texas to have it...

It probably "Did". You wouldn't expect a crash bar to withstand the impact of a 6,000# vehicle hitting it at 60MPH, would you?

 

Look at what happens to highway guard rails when they are impacted at much lower speeds.

 

 

 

I absolutely agree with your asumption on the DOT bar but guard rails are made to flex and bend. Their real job is to keep a vehicle contained while being as safe as possible. Most will bend if you back into them with a truck, it is the vertical foundation pillars that give them strength. Sometimes with the newer models you can see rubber blocks between the rail and the pillar for added safety. Think of them as a safer barrier that Nascar, IZOD, etc uses.

 

 

My prayers with the man's family. I drive through this area often on weekends and sometimes it is a very abrupt stop through that construction zone. Gentleman must have looked away from the road for a second and... Just horrible.

[TheTrueMoron]

October 14, 2011

Man killed in afternoon crash

 

By Ryan Palencer CNHI

 

 

The trailer was carrying about 40,000 pounds of sugar, which was not compromised.

 

Akerman was pronounced dead at the scene by Joe Neuman, Hendricks County Coroner.

 

The driver and co-driver of the semi were uninjured.

 

According to state police, all lanes of I-70 westbound were diverted to State Road 267 for approximately three hours while the investigation and cleanup occurred.

 

While this is a very sad report, I do appreciate the journalist's attempt at lightening up the mood.

[HawkScot]

Bad crash.. prayers for family and semi drivers.

 

Recently was discussing texting/cell phone usage while driving with a friend. He says he can drive and text, in fact claimed to have read a book years ago while driving a few hours on the freeway. He did admit to a close call while reading where he did not notice a semi slowing down as the road went uphill. He came up on the semi (probably only doing 20mph) while he was doing 70mph. If there had been much traffic, he would have ended up like the beginning of this thread.

 

Something distracted the pickup driver (medical, texting, radio, etc) so that he was not aware of the speed difference. I did some stupid things when I was younger, just wish our kids could learn easier from our mistakes and not have to risk their own...