Richland, WA — A garbage truck driver had to be taken to a hospital after his truck was in a wreck along Highway 240 this past Thursday morning, June 11, 2015. Police said that the man was identified as Abel Madrigal, 42 years old, and that this happened when his truck crashed into a wall.
Though it’s not clear yet what caused Madrigal to lose control of his truck that morning, they said that he was headed along Highway 240 at about 10:30 a.m. when his truck swerved off the roadway and drove through the grass, hitting a stone wall.
The truck sustained major front-end damage and Madrigal had to be taken to a hospital for his injuries, though he’s not in life-threatening condition.
As some may remember, this is the second garbage truck accident in the past 30 days, according to the Richland Department of Public Works. The last accident involved a garbage truck that lost its brakes and hit a house, though we don’t know why yet. It’s not clear if Madrigal had any brakes problems, but that may be something to be addressed in a later investigation.
Update: It appears that Madrigal was the truck driver in both these garbage truck accidents. The news said that the throttle on Madrigal’s truck was stuck in the last accident, making it seem like the it had “lost” its brakes.
Map of Richland
Commentary:
Now that there’s been a little more information provided here, I’m starting to wonder if the garbage truck this man was driving was even roadworthy in the first place. I read in the news that the DPW is looking into whether the truck driver was under the influence, but it seems to me that they ought to be focusing more on their truck and whether it was working properly that day.
— Grossman Law Offices
