Distracted Truck Driver Causes Fatal Accident

Austin, TXTwo children died and two others were injured after a Texas truck accident that police say was at least partially due to a distracted semi truck driver. According to KSAT, a local news station, the driver of the semi truck reached down for a cigarette and lost control of his vehicle, resulting in it flipping over.

Shortly after, a car carrying 6 people crashed into the overturned truck. The two adults in the car and the truck driver were not injured in the accident. The two injured children were airlifted to hospital. A 5-day-old and a 2-year-old child were killed in the accident.

These types of trucking accidents have safety groups crying foul over the increased use of big rigs to haul loads over long distances. The fact is, when a small car comes in contact with a big truck, more often than not it is the people in the car who are seriously injured, regardless of whose fault the accident was. Safety groups argue that trains are a far safer means of transporting goods long distances and using trains would result in far less wear and tear on the nation's highways.

However, the trucking industry says that trucks are the best way to go when it comes to hauling goods. Trucks do have some advantages over trains, sure. They are more flexible, so that various goods can be shipped at just about any time, day or night and can be taken anywhere the roads go. They are easier for smaller loads than trains and they provide jobs for thousands of truck drivers.

But they simply are not as safe as trains. There are thousands of trucking accidents on the road each year—some of them fatal, like the one that killed those two children. Far fewer lives would be at risk each year if companies hauled their goods via train rather than via truck.

Furthermore, fewer hazardous materials would be on our highways. In California, a big rig exploded in flames after it overturned on Interstate 880 in Oakland. The rig was carrying gasoline when it was rear-ended by a sedan. The accident resulted in the rig flipping over and its contents catching on fire. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt in the incident, but the results could have been much worse.

In some cases, lawsuits may help to force trucking companies to meet safety standards and properly maintain their trucks. One lawsuit filed against a trucking company was resolved with a $15 million settlement. The lawsuit, which stemmed from an accident in which three family members were killed and a fourth severely injured, alleged that the trucking company failed to properly maintain the truck and failed to spot falsified driving logs. The truck allegedly had a worn left front wheel and a problem with front-end alignment.

However, with so many trucks currently on the road, and with even more trucks—and bigger trucks—looming on the horizon, it doesn't appear that the nation's highways will be getting substantially safer any time soon. That means that more innocent lives will probably be lost for the sake of easy transportation.