COBB COUNTY, GA — One person was hospitalized after a tractor-trailer accident that happened in Cobb County, Georgia on Tuesday, October 21st, 2014. The article from My Fox Atlanta said that the accident happened Tuesday after dark.
Police working with accident investigators believe an unidentified person was hurt when the car they were in and a tractor-trailer collided on East Piedmont Road. The authorities said that the tractor-trailer was attempting a U-Turn on East Piedmont when the car hit it.
The driver of the car was taken by EMS to a nearby hospital where they were last reported in serious condition.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
The details of this accident are still emerging, but the news mentioned that the tractor-trailer was attempting a U-turn when the accident happened. Now, just looking at this road on Google Earth, I’m wondering if a U-turn was really safest decision. If my estimates are correct, this truck was probably going to block off a significant portion, if not all of the road. Additionally, a tractor-trailer is going to take much longer to complete a U-turn than a conventional car will. Now, before the truck driver attempted this turn, he would have had to judge both the width of the road, the time it would take to complete the turn, as well as waiting for a large enough break in traffic to make such a maneuver. Needless to say that there is a lot that can go wrong, and in this case, something did. Now, if the truck driver was making an illegal turn or misjudged the timing of the turn, then the trucking company responsible for their driver needs to face the consequences. Something in my gut tells me that this could have been avoided with a simple drive around the block as opposed to a risky u-turn.
— Grossman Law Offices