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Truck Driver Dies When Tractor-Trailer Leaves The Road And Plunges Into A Creek-Bed, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

In the early morning hours of a fall day, exact time unknown and the length of time driving unknown, a 28-year-old male truck driver was driving north on an interstate transporting 30,000 lbs. of blue plastic injection molding pellets. The truck driver exited the highway behind a guardrail and traveled 1,320 feet, striking a wire fence and several trees before plummeting into a creek bed, shearing the cab open. At 10:27 a.m., a citizen called in to the fire department to report a mysterious blue substance observed in the creek a couple of miles down from the accident. The fire …

Arborists Die After Falling, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Kentucky Haz Alerts--Falls

To Prevent Arborists Injuries:

• Never allow an aerial lift to be used as a crane or material lifting device.
• All trees and limbs should be inspected for structural weakness such as rot, before work starts.
• Arborists should wear appropriate personal protective equipment while performing tree trimming activities.

Special Factors for Aerial Lifts:

• Do not exceed the boom and basket load limits specified by the manufacturer.
• When working from an aerial lift, use a body harness that is properly attached.

Factory Laborer Dies When A Car Driven By Coworker Crashes Into Him In Parking Lot, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

On a summer day, a 29-year-old male manufacturing laborer was outside under a small metal stairway in the loading dock area of the manufacturing plant during his lunch break. Another employee entered her car in the employee parking lot to leave on her lunch break. Her car unexpectedly malfunctioned when in reverse, sped backward, and crashed into the stairway under which the worker was taking a break. The collision pushed the metal stairway along the wall of the factory, crushing the worker between the building and the passenger side of the car. Emergency medical services arrived and transported the worker …

Day Care Monitor Dies After Crash Of 15-Passenger Van, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

In the late afternoon of a spring day, a day care van operator and a monitor loaded 16 children into a 15-passenger van. Carrying a total of 18 passengers in the 15-passenger van, the operator and the monitor proceeded to transport the children to their homes. After dropping off two children at their residences, the van was traveling 46-50 mph in the left hand lane headed east in a 35 mph zone on a non-divided four-lane state road. As the van approached a side street on the right, the right rear tire blew out and the van veered sharply to …

Truck Driver Dies When Tractor-Trailer Overturns After Leaving Road, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

In the early morning hours of a spring day around 5:45 a.m., a 55-year-old male truck driver was driving south on an interstate transporting sheet metal. It is unknown how long he had been driving when he exited from the highway, traveled partially up the ramp, and struck the left side guard rail. The truck left the road, traveled down an embankment and overturned onto its roof. A passing motorist called emergency medical services. The driver was extricated by mechanical means and declared dead at the scene.

To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: …

Workers Killed Due To Driver Distraction, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Kentucky Haz Alerts--Motor Vehicle

To Prevent Driver Distraction,

Employers should:

• Provide training on the importance of being attentive and not engaging in distracting tasks or behaviors while driving
• Develop policies that minimize or eliminate the use of in-vehicle devices while driving

Employees should:

• Not use dispatching devices while driving
• Not text or manually dial a cell phone while driving
• Refrain from activities such as reading, writing or map reading while driving

Motor Vehicle Injuries Among Semi Truck Drivers And Sleeper Berth Passengers, Terry L. Bunn, Svetla Slavova, Medearis Robertson

Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center Faculty Publications

Introduction: Injuries and fatalities due to large truck and other vehicle crashes have decreased over the last decade, but motor vehicle injuries remain a leading cause of death for both the working and general populations. The present study was undertaken to determine semi truck driver and sleeper berth passenger injury risk in a moving semi truck collision using a matched-pair cohort study.

Method: Study data were obtained from the Kentucky Collision Report Analysis for Safer Highways (CRASH) electronic files for 2000 - 2010. A matched-pair cohort study was used to compare the odds of injury of both drivers …

Drivers Killed Due To Tire Failures, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Kentucky Haz Alerts--Motor Vehicle

To Prevent Tire Failures,

Employers should:

• Ensure that routine maintenance is performed on work vehicles
• Implement and enforce an employer seat belt safety program

Employees should:

• Be properly trained in safe work vehicle operation
• Perform routine pre-trip and post-trip inspections, including inspection of the tires
• Ensure that tires do not run below 80% of the recommended pressure

Two Semis Collide - Fire Ensues; Both Drivers Perish, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

One summer’s night, a 49 year-old semi-truck driver (D1), pulling a flatbed loaded with salvage cars for recycling traveled north on a three-lane state highway. D1 topped a hill, drove through a right curve when the unit rolled onto the driver’s side, slide across the center line and entered a straight stretch approximately half way to the bottom of a hill. As D1’s unit was sliding down the hill in the south bound lanes, a 52 year-old semi-truck driver (D2) hauling bottled beverages was traveling south in the straight stretch up the hill. As D1 slide down the hill, D2 …

Semi-Truck Driver Dies After Being Struck By Flatbed Driver In Crossover Collision, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

In the winter of 2011, a 46-year-old semi-truck driver (D1) hauling a flatbed trailer was traveling north in the right lane on a four lane interstate. Several minutes ahead of the semi was a pickup truck hauling an extension ladder that fell out onto the northbound travel lanes. A car behind the pickup swerved to avoid the falling ladder. Other cars swerved to avoid the ladder. The semi came upon the ladder and swerving cars. To avoid striking the cars and ladder, the semi driver swerved to the right, over-corrected to the left, drove across the northbound lanes, over a …

Owner Of Towing Company Dies When Struck By Box Truck, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Motor Vehicle

In the early morning hours of a summer day, a 49-year-old male owner-operator of a towing company died when he was struck by a driver operating a box truck. The towing company had been called to retrieve a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that had broken down in another state and was returning the vehicle to its owner in Kentucky. It was approximately 4:00 a.m. when the towing company owner and his two sons were on an interstate returning with the SUV, when the operator thought the load felt strange. He parked his tow truck on the right hand shoulder and …