NESS COUNTY, KS — Jason Conroy was identified as the man that was killed in a tractor-trailer accident that happened in Ness County, Kansas on Sunday, January 18th, 2015. The news said that the accident happened at about 10:30 Sunday morning.
31-year-old Jason Conroy was killed when the tractor-trailer he was driving crashed on 80 road for reasons currently under investigation. Police said that the truck drove off the road and rolled into a nearby ditch, coming to a stop resting on its roof.
Conroy was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
No other injuries were detailed in the news reports.
Kansas Highway Patrol officials helped local authorities with the accident investigation.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
The news said specifically that the tractor-trailer landed on its roof in the accident. I know from experience that many tractor-trailers out on the road do not fare well in rollover accidents like this. Basically, these truck drivers are in a thin metal shell standing atop a heavy chassis frame. While the heavy frame will withstand front and rear-end collisions, when the truck rolls, the heavy frame crushes the thin metal housing surrounding the driver. Now, considering I’ve noticed this rash of problems, you can bet that tractor-trailer manufacturers have too, and for some reason, they haven’t fixed anything about the design, and in many cases, they don’t even equip these trucks with airbags. If consumer cars had the same mortality rate in rollover accidents, the public would be incensed. For some reason, they think that regular car drivers and tractor-trailer drivers shouldn’t have the same safety features, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.
If the sub par design of this truck transformed the accident from a serious one, to a fatal one, then the truck manufacturer needs to be held accountable.
— Grossman Law Offices