MULLHALL, OK — Jason Newby was hurt in a tractor-trailer explosion that happened in Mullhall, Oklahoma on Friday, April 3rd, 2015. News reports said that the accident took place around 10:00 Friday morning.
Jason Newby was hurt when he was struck by a piece of shrapnel after a tractor-trailer tanker truck exploded in the northbound lanes of Interstate 35. Authorities said that Newby rushed to the aid of the truck driver when the truck exploded. Newby was struck in the leg by debris in the explosion.
Newby was flown by EMS to a nearby hospital where he was being treated for unspecified injuries.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was identified in the news report as Dwight Handley, who was killed in the crash.
Oklahoma State Police are investigating the explosion at this time.
Scene of the Accident
View of the Road
Commentary:
Without question, the explosion needs to be looked into by professionals to determine it’s origin. Tractor-trailer accidents result in a grossly disproportionate number of fires, and the overwhelming majority of these fires start with the externally mounted gas tanks on the trucks. In a great number of accidents, these gas tanks are torn open, crushed, or punctured, and can start fires, or simply explode under crushing pressures. All it would take to fix this problem, and prevent these fires would be remounting the gas tanks in-board, or simply reinforcing the tank with a steel cage, but for some reason, neither of these solutions have been considered. If the gas tanks were the source of the fire or subsequent explosion, the manufacturer could bear a significant portion of the liability in this accident.
— Grossman Law Offices