Smithfield, PA — A tractor-trailer driver was injured after his vehicle was hit by debris from a dump truck that rolled over on Interstate 80 in Smithfield, Pennsylvania, on Monday, March 23, 2015. The accident took place at the I-80 intersection with Route 209, around 5:30 in the afternoon.
The driver of the dump truck would later tell police that he lost control of his vehicle while coming around a curve in the road. Police say that the driver was driving too fast, and cited him for it.
Lakvihr Singh, the driver of the tractor-trailer, told authorities that debris from the dump truck shattered his windshield, sending broken shards of glass into his eyes. He was taken to Pocono Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.
No other injuries were reported, although the accident is still being investigated.
The driver of the dump truck and the company he works for have not been identified.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
A lot of things went wrong here. There are federally-mandated protocols that truck drivers are obligated to follow to make sure that things like this don’t happen. And from the sound of it, a few of those were skipped over. First, if there’s the possibility that debris could have fallen out of the back of the dump truck, there should have been some sort of covering over it to prevent that. Drivers are responsible for checking all of that in an inspection before getting on the road, and from what’s being reported, it sounds like it either didn’t happen, or the driver didn’t do as thorough a job as he should have.
Beyond that, truck drivers are supposed to pay attention to the road. They’re supposed to drive the speed limit, and make sure to do things like slow down whenever they’re driving around a curve in the road. Either the driver involved here just didn’t care to do those things, or he hadn’t received the proper training that would have let him know that he was driving irresponsibly. In either case, this is a major misstep by the trucking company, and something they definitely should be held accountable for. Another truck driver was injured, and the trucking company needs to make sure that things are made right with him. Fortunately, this accident wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. But things very easily could have turned the other way. I think they owe it to the public to make sure something like this doesn’t ever happen again.
— Grossman Law Offices
