Perryville, MD — Emergency workers responded to an accident that took place on I-95, in Perryville, Maryland, on Monday, March 31. The accident involved two commercial vehicles, an 18-wheeler and a dump truck.
The accident occurred when the 18-wheeler failed to slow down behind the dump truck as the two vehicles were merging onto I-95. The 18-wheeler rear-ended the dump truck, which caused its cargo of concrete barriers to tear through the cab of the truck, which subsequently caught fire.
Emergency workers coming onto the scene found the 18-wheeler in flames, with its driver trapped inside. The fire was quickly put out, but the driver couldn’t be saved, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Judging by the reports I’ve read, the accident occurred because Mr. Heaton failed to slow down for the dump truck he was driving behind. If he hadn’t of rear-ended the vehicle, his cargo wouldn’t have shifted, and that wouldn’t have started the fire. Tragic as it is, the details are relatively straight forward. But what strikes me about the accident is that the cargo, once it had breached the cab of the 18-wheeler, was able to set the entire vehicle on fire. I’d be interested to learn more about this particular truck’s fuel system, because this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a truck catching fire in this manner. Cargo shifting forward, especially in the case of an accident, has to be something that trucking companies foresee and prepare for, so it’s shocking to see an accident with this outcome. Truck drivers don’t typically load their own cargo, so is it possible that something here wasn’t handled correctly? Or that something was securely put in place? Those are the first things I’d look at.