Roadway Tragedies April 8, 2009
2009 April 8
It is impossible to talk about automobile safety without discussing the potential accident scenarios. I will continue to discuss and highlight the number of rollovers occurring on the roads, but I also want to include media coverage of tire incidents, 18-wheeler accidents, and all manner of accidents that happen throughout the nation.
Town of Hollands, Wisconsin Rollover
A Milwaukee woman was killed a toddler seriously injured in a rollover crash in Sheboygan County Tuesday afternoon. It happened on Interstate 43 at Smies Road — just north of Highway 32 — in the town of Holland just before 3 p.m.The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department said driver lost control of the car, entered a ditch and the car rolled several times.The front passenger, a 27-year-old woman from Milwaukee, and a male toddler were ejected from the vehicle.The toddler was still in a child seat and was taken to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. The toddler is in critical condition. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Four Oaks, North Carolina Rollover
An Oak Island man has died in an accident in Johnston County. The incident happened on Strickland’s Crossroads in Four Oaks on Saturday. Authorities say 34-year-old Clifford Struckman was killed when the driver, Tami Sue Tart, lost control of her SUV, causing it to overturn. Struckman was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Tart was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Highway patrol officials say charges will likely be filed.
One person died in a single-vehicle crash on the Baltimore Beltway early Monday, according to the state police at the Golden Ring Barracks. Police said a 1998 Ford Explorer was carrying seven people when it crashed near the Harford Road exit on the inner loop about 3:40 a.m. Investigators believe the right front tire blew out, causing the vehicle to spin, strike a guardrail and overturn. The person was pronounced dead at the scene. Five others were taken to hospitals. State police said it appeared the occupants were from outside the country and it would be at least a day before their names were available.
Lufkin, Texas 18-Wheeler Accident
Two people suffered injuries in a three-vehicle accident involving an 18-wheeler pipe truck Wednesday afternoon on south Loop 287. Emergency responders strapped a man and a woman from separate Honda sedans onto backboards and took them to local hospitals with unknown injuries. Police did not immediately release the names of those involved in the accident. Lufkin Police Officer Stacy Seymore said the wreck was still under investigation, but that the truck driver was at fault and had been issued a citation. The truck driver was not injured. Seymore said it appeared the truck was approaching traffic slowing for a red light in the 900 block of South John Redditt Drive going toward Old Union Road when it rear-ended a silver Honda, which then hit a white Honda. The impact ripped off the silver Honda’s bumper. Responders used a pneumatic jaw to open the car doors to free the driver of the silver Honda, identified by friend Cecil Jones at the scene as Ken Smith, of Nacogdoches, Smith called him from his damaged car to ask him to come and look after his things and see where the car ended up after being towed, Jones said.
Moncks Corner, South Carolina 18-Wheeler Accident
A construction worker died Wednesday when he was crushed beneath an 18-wheeler that he was trying to help free from the mud. Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad said Kevin Armstrong, 38, of Moncks Corner was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at 8:30 a.m. Rhoad said the incident occurred at Frederick Douglass Avenue, just off U.S. Highway 17A. Armstrong, a site manager for Cooper River Construction, was trying to help free a flat-bed trailer hauling concrete pipe after it became bogged down on the muddied dirt road. Rhoad said Armstrong was behind the tractor-trailer attempting to hook a chain from the trailer to a bulldozer. He said the driver of the 18-wheeler didn’t see Armstrong behind the trailer and put the truck in reverse, running him over.
If someone you know was injured or killed as the result of a rollover, immediately contact a competent attorney for advice. It is extremely important to do this quickly.
