Seven Children Die, Taken by Truck Accidents

Calgary, ABIt's hardest when it happens in the month of Christmas, but what is inconsolable is that it happens at all: in this case families wiped out by truck accidents within a dew days of each other. One was blamed on adverse weather conditions, while the other was due to negligence on the part of the truck driver.

However, in both cases it points to the vast divergence of vehicle size on the highways, and what happens when the biggest vehicles, and the smallest vehicles, collide.

Brenda Levick was driving her four kids in a small, Chevy Cavalier when their car spun out of control in icy weather and veered into the path of a truck pulling two trailer units.

The car was crushed beyond recognition, and none of its occupants survived. The driver of the truck walked away without a scratch. The accident happened December 3rd on Highway 16, just west of Prince George in British Columbia.

While the BC accident was weather-related, another tangle between a car and a truck, again in Canada, was no accident at all.

Five days after the BC accident, a family of five was stopped at an intersection in Calgary, when a concrete truck slammed into their car from behind. The massive truck dragged the 1999 Intrepid along the avenue before eventually rolling right over top of the car.

The five occupants—a Calgary couple and their three children—didn't stand a chance.

The driver of the concrete truck, meanwhile, is facing five counts of dangerous driving causing death, and one count of failing to provide a breath sample. Police reports indicate that excessive speed and alcohol were contributing factors.

The children who died in the Calgary crash were two girls, aged six and nine, and a 16-month old boy.

Accidents do happen, and they happen because sometimes, life just isn't fair. How else can you explain a lovely family of five, out for a drive and stopped at a red light, wiped out in an instant due to the negligence and callousness of another wielding nothing less than a weapon of behemoth proportions. It could be likened to a criminal high on drugs, waving a machine gun with the safety off.

One can only imagine the horror of the scene inside those two cars, as the victims met their fate.

However, are these accidents preventable?

In the Calgary crash, area residents have long complained about excessive truck traffic, and excessive speed. One resident indicated that a few weeks prior to the fatal crash at Macleod Trail and 194th Avenue Southwest, a truck navigated the corner way too fast and dumped its load. "That happens fairly regularly," the Calgarian told local media at the time.

And while the BC crash was due to weather, it illustrates the need for cars and trucks to be segregated in their own lanes, separated by concrete barriers and protective fencing.

No one would argue that truck traffic has multiplied in recent years. There are more trucks on the road than ever before, as suppliers move more and more to just-in-time delivery, and the custom hauling services that truckers provide. Great for business, but not so for the nation's road network, and the people that use it.

No one is suggesting that all truckers are irresponsible. And car drivers can act like idiots too, pulling in front of a big rig and cutting it off, expecting it to have a similar capacity to stop on a dime. The results can be tragic. And accidents can, and do happen involving responsible and well-meaning drivers from both camps.

So if there are more trucks on the road, and heavier trucks on the road, why are the nation's highways not re-designed to give trucks their own lane? Keep the cars, and the trucks apart from one another.

Why are commercials trucks allowed to drive on city streets? Are there not specific truck routes that segregate the big rigs from the lion's share of city traffic?

And why are commercial trucking companies not required to have two drivers on duty at all times? Commercial airliners require a co-pilot. This would cut down on sleep-deprived drivers, allow trucks to, literally, run around the clock safely with a fresh driver always behind the wheel. And it's hard to engage in illegal behavior such as drinking on the job, when you have a partner watching your every move. Rotating drivers on a regular basis would ensure the good-buddy environment never gets a chance to take hold, and the cab remains the jurisdiction of responsible commerce.

I've never lost a loved one to a truck. But depending on the circumstances, if I did—I'd be suing the trucking company, the driver, the regulators, the government—in short, anyone who had a hand in allowing those trucks to share a road with small passenger cars.

After all, the nation's road networks and traffic infrastructure was designed in an era where there were far fewer trucks on the road. Cars were bigger, too. Since, the cars have become smaller and the trucks have become bigger and more of a presence.

The road networks were never designed for this. And no one is doing anything to change it.

The two tragic accidents noted above were in Canada, but such accidents can, and do happen everywhere.

The US government is spending billions on the war effort—money that could, one might argue, be better spent on a complete overhaul of the nation's road networks and infrastructure. To beef up the bridges so they don't collapse under the weight. To give the trucks their own lane, and segregate them from passenger cars. And to subsidize the trucking companies to hire additional drivers, so there can be two drivers on duty at all times.

Anything less is completely irresponsible. And ripe for litigation, when disaster strikes.