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Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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An off duty high-ranking NYPD cop died in the Bronx after a garbage truck making a left turn hit his motorcycle. Around 8:15 am on Monday morning, 56 year old Michael McGrath, was riding his bike south on East Tremont Ave when a dump truck making a left turn onto Waterbury Avenue hit him. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died from his injuries. The driver of the truck stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t immediately charged. Inspector McGrath was the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Strategic Services Division. He was in charge of the department’s cadet program providing internships and police training for college students interested in a law enforcement career.

The accident occurred less than 10 days after a 62 year old e-biker suffered critical head injury after colliding with a garbage truck in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The accident was pretty similar to the one that killed Inspector Mc Grath. The dump truck struck the e-biker while making a left turn from third Ave onto 12th Street. The driver was a 52 year old off-duty firefighter working an authorized second job.

Hell on Wheels

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Regulatory-impact-analysis-image012Fatigued driving is a factor in truck accidents which according to the National Transportation Safety Board is often under reported. To prevent such accidents, truck drivers are subject to “hours of service” rules that limit the number of hours that a truck driver can spend behind the wheel and specify when a break or a sleeper berth is necessary.

Recently the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed to bring five key modifications to these rules to supposedly increase safety and provide more flexibility for drivers. These proposals are a response to industry’s stakeholders who have been requesting these changes for a very long time but safety advocates believe that relaxing the hours of service rules will make the roads more dangerous.

Those in favor of the changes are mostly trucking companies as well as truck drivers who find that the actual rules are not adapted to human needs and real world business concerns. Those against the changes are traffic safety advocates and families who have lost a loved one in a truck accident and believe that fatigue driving is underestimated.  In a press release The FMCSA said they listened to the drivers concerns but the truck industry has also been very active in lobbying the government to relax rules.

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location-of-the-deadly-pick-up-truck-accidentA 67 year old pedestrian died from injuries sustained in a pick-up truck accident in New York.  On Saturday August 10th around 9.00 pm, Melissa McClure was in the crosswalk next to her sister at the corner of 15th Street and 6th Ave in Manhattan when a Chevrolet Silverado making a left turn slammed into them. Both women were transported to the hospital. The sister, 59 year old Dorry Chitwood who was visiting from Georgia, suffered a cut in the back of the head. She was treated at the hospital and released shortly after. Melissa sustained major head trauma during the accident.  After she arrived at the hospital, she was put on life support. She never woke up and died from her injuries almost a week later. Melissa who’s nickname was Missy, lived in Chelsea with her two cats. Her sister was visiting from Georgia. After her return flight was cancelled she decided to stay with her sister for an extra night. Both women were on their way for a dinner in Chinatown when the accident occured. The driver of the pick up truck stayed at the scene of the accident.

Dangerous Avenue

Busy 6th Avenue is dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists alike. In June Robyn Hightman was riding her bike when she was fatally stuck by a truck near the intersection of 6th Ave and 23rd Street.  Then at the beginning of August another Chelsea resident, Michael Collopy, died after he was hit by a bicycle. Since January 2016, 18 pedestrians and 15 drivers were injured at this specific intersection.

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Two pedestrians were injured in a truck accident in New York City last Friday.  An out of control refrigerated box truck delivering produce jumped the curb at 86th Street and Bay 34th Street in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, NYC. It crashed into a Malaysian restaurant window. As it jumped the curb, it struck a 20-year-old pedestrian. The driver then backed the truck up striking a 24-year-old woman and damaging a parked car then hit a subway pillar. The driver then tried to flee the scene of the accident on foot but the police caught him and he was taken into custody.

The two pedestrians who were injured were taken to the hospital. The 20-year-old pedestrian is in critical condition and still fighting for his life. The 24-year-old woman suffered a head injury but she is in stable condition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTbMavbTRhM

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A man in a warehouse was fatally pinned against a wall by a tractor-trailer backing up. On Friday morning around 6:00, a 2012 Freightliner tractor trailer backed up into the loading dock inside Sun King Produce Corp located on Morgan Street near Jackson Street in East Williamsburg.  63 year old Son Ngoc Nguyen who was standing near the back wall was crushed against the wall by the truck. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries a day later. The truck driver wasn’t charged. Read more in the NY Daily News 

Dock workers at high risk of accidents

The loading dock is one of the most dangerous area in a warehouse. OSHA has specific regulations about loading dock safety that can be found in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.176 material handling. While forklift accidents such as forklift overturning,  are the most common in warehouses, it is also quite frequent for warehouse workers to be crushed by trucks and sadly most of these accidents are deadly . Here are some of the most recent cases reported by OSHA:

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Location of the fatal truck accidentA pedestrian was fatally struck by a USPS truck in New York City. The accident occurred on Friday around 5:00 pm in Brooklyn.  52 year old Charles McClean was crossing MacDougal Street at Howard Avenue in Bedforsd-Suyvesant when a USPS truck stopped in the crosswalk. As the pedestrian walked in front of the truck, the driver started  to move forward and struck the pedestrian. The pedestrian fell underneath the truck and was dragged across the the street by the truck to the next crosswalk. Charles McClean was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries but he couldn’t be saved. He leaves behind him 2 twin 10-year-old daughters.  Just before the accident, McClean mother’s sent him to the store to get lottery tickets. He never came back. The mother, 72-year-old Shirley McClean previously lost two other of her eight sons. One died from gun violence and the other one from a medical infection.

USPS drivers above the law

The USPS driver remained at the scene of the accident, so far he hasn’t been charged. One of the surviving brothers, Gregory Mclean told Streetblog that the intersection wasn’t safe because most drivers only looked to their left for oncoming cars but din’t look at their right for oncoming pedestrians. He also said that postal workers in the neighborhood were reckless drivers always rushing to clock out  and accused the young postal driver wo killed his brother of homicide. Another brother, Arkim, mentioned that USPS trucks didn’t have license plates therefore they couldn’t get ticketed by the police. No tickets means no accountability, he said.

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location pof the collision between thr truck and the cyclistA 74 year old cyclist who was struck by a truck in New York  suffered severe personal injury and might loose his leg. The accident occurred last Saturday around 7:00 pm in the Hudson Yards area. The cyclist was riding a city bike southbound on 11th Avenue when he was struck by a UPS semi-truck. The cyclist was transported to the hospital with severe trauma including a partial severed leg. A recent article in the Gothamist indicates that the cyclist may loose his leg.

According to preliminary investigations, both the cyclist and the truck were driving in the same direction when the accident occurred.  The truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident and so far he hasn’t been charged.  As often happens in this type of accident the police claimed that the cyclist collided with the truck and tried to clear the truck driver. However the police accident report doesn’t mention the nature of the collision and investigators are still looking for video footage to understand the exact cause of the accident.

No bike lane

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tractor-trailer-accident-locationThe driver of a tractor trailer died in an accident in New York City yesterday afternoon. According to the police, 63 year old Atlas Banks may have suffered a heart attack while he was driving his Freightliner tractor trailer Thursday afternoon in the Bronx. As he was making a left turn onto Coster from Randall, the tractor trailer jumped the curb and hit a pole. Then the truck just kept going hitting a parked car with passengers on board and a parked pick-up truck. The pick up truck then hit two other parked vehicles.

The driver of the truck was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. The front passenger of the parked car suffered neck and back pain and was transported to the hospital to be treated. Read more in the NY Daily News

Keeping in shape while driving a truck is not always easy

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memorial for NYC victim of bike accidentA 25 year old bicyclist was fatally struck by a hit and run truck driver in NYC.  Aurilla  Lawrence was fatally hit by a gas tanker truck near the intersection of Broadway and Rodney Street in Williamsburg last Thursday night around 11:30 pm. The driver fled the scene of the accident and so far is still at large. Lawrence was a beloved member of the bike messengers community who  nicknamed her  “Aurilla Gorilla”.

Last Sunday around 200 bike messengers and street safety advocates organized a memorial ride on the streets of New York to commemorate the victim. Bicyclists met at Lenox Avenue in Harlem and rode their bikes South on Fifth Avenue toward Union Square. The Union Square Park is an area where Lawrence used to hang with fellow bike messengers in between deliveries. As a tribute to her, the bike-a-thon made a stop at the park and  participants raised their bikes to her memory.

Then the 200 cyclists continued their way toward Brooklyn. They crossed the Williamsburg bridge to ultimately arrive at the location of the accident where a ghost bike and a makeshift memorial were installed.  The participants gathered around the memorial and paid tribute to their beloved co-worker.

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accident scene4  people were injured in an accident caused by a New York City Sanitation truck in Queens on Saturday night. The truck was driving West on the Belt Parkway near Merrick Boulevard when it overturned. During the crash, the compactor of the truck detached and landed on  the top of two other cars, destroying them. 4 people were injured including the driver of the truck who was badly bleeding. According to witnesses he was covered in blood. Another victim was seriously injured and 2 others only suffered minor injuries. All four of them were transported to the hospital to be treated. The police are still investigating the accident.