5 quick tips for preventing a winter weather crash

Snow, freezing rain, and high winds are in the forecast for western Washington State this week. While that shouldn’t come as a surprise – it’s standard winter weather for most of the Pacific Northwest – there are always too many drivers who are caught off guard. The result is often a slew of predictable, often preventable, crashes. Winter weather crash prevention tips 1. Prepare your vehicle. One of the best things you can do to prevent a winter weather crash is to get your car ready to handle wet roads. Are your headlights and taillights all working? Do your tires have enough tread to handle heavy rainfall? How well do your windshield wipers work? Have you checked the levels of windshield washer

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Off-tracking truck: how rear tires can crush pedestrians

What is off-tracking? Off-tracking truck: Rear wheels take a different, shorter path than the front wheels when the semi-truck is turning or cornering. We might think of it as “cutting the corner” of a turn. I have seen this before, with a client who was run over by the back wheels of a semi-truck turning the corner. I saw it again very recently, as Coluccio Law handled a case involving the tragic death of a truck driver who was assisting another driver at a truck stop. A father killed by off-tracking truck Truck stops in some areas are often very busy and overcrowded. (We have discussed truck parking as a safety issue). On a cold, rainy evening in February, my client’s father, a commercial

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Why was there 62% more semi crashes in Washington last year?

Have you wondered if there have been more semi-truck crashes than usual in Washington State? In 2017, after a spate of high-profile semi crashes in Washington that resulted in serious injuries and/or closed major highways for hours, we looked into this question. The Washington State Patrol’s Collision Analysis Tool shows 1087 semi crashes met the damage threshold for reporting in 2017. That’s up from 860 in 2016; an increase of nearly 27%. It’s a 62% increase from the 668 semi-truck crashes reported in 2015. What caused this jump in semi crashes in Washington? There are a few reasonable options, some suggested by our Trucking Watchdog readers. But we have no definitive answers (and we are open to your suggestions about it.) Weather When we looked at the

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Yes, semi truck crashes are way up in Washington this year … and it’s gotten worse

Update: As of October 16, there has been 798 semi truck crashes* in Washington State. At the same time last year, there had been 661. Just in the last few weeks, there have been several major collisions that caused severe injuries—and kept thousands stuck in traffic for hours. June 9: Three semi trucks collided in Blaine, Washington, just south of the U.S.-Canada border. The Bellingham Herald reports that 2 drivers were hurt— one trapped in the truck for over an hour. Then, a semi-truck rear-ended a Metro bus on I-5 in Seattle. June 13: A semi rolled over on eastbound I-90, where ramps from both directions of I-5 merge. The truck driver was injured. The same day, two people were hurt in a head-on collision between a car and a

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Yes, semi truck crashes are way up in Washington this year … but why?

This past week, a semi-truck flipped over on I-405 in Bellevue around 5 a.m. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured … but traffic was backed up for hours, at one point stretching 7 miles down the highway. The Washington State Patrol (WSP) later cited the trucker for driving too fast for rainy conditions. At 4 a.m. the day before, a semi-truck hit the guardrail and rolled over around on I-5 in Chehalis. The driver had fallen asleep. On Tuesday, March 7, a semi-truck rolled onto a pickup truck on I-90 near Cle Elum. And, if you live or work anywhere near Seattle, you know about February’s traffic disaster. A semi-truck carrying propane rolled over in downtown Seattle. I-5 was closed

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A study on distracted driving enforcement in Washington

The University of Washington Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center conducted a study on distracted driving enforcement. Using focus groups of police officers from King County, Whatcom County, and Spokane County, researchers identified some common problems, including: distracted driving laws are difficult to enforce. The study participants proposed a solution. Laws should prohibit all forms of electronic distraction while driving. “Officers told us they don’t want to know what someone typing on their phone – just that they shouldn’t be doing it.” said researcher Dr. Beth Ebel. This problem is clearly illustrated in this video, as a driver explains to an officer what he was doing with his phone. Washington state law RCW 46.61.668 prohibits sending, reading, or writing a

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5 quick tips for preventing a winter weather crash

Off-tracking truck: how rear tires can crush pedestrians

Why was there 62% more semi crashes in Washington last year?

Yes, semi truck crashes are way up in Washington this year … and it’s gotten worse

Yes, semi truck crashes are way up in Washington this year … but why?

A study on distracted driving enforcement in Washington

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