A minivan was traveling on I-24 East near Central Avenue when it ran off the road and hit the back of a truck stopped on the side of the road. Everyone in the van died.
Five people were killed in a crash on I-24 East on Monday morning.
A minivan was traveling on I-24 East near Central Avenue when it ran off the road and hit the back of a truck stopped on the side of the road.
Everyone in the van died.
When the van hit the back of the semi-truck, it got caught beneath the back of the trailer. This is called an underride crash.
There have been questions if it’s legal for the truck to be sitting on the shoulder of the interstate.The Tennessee Highway Patrol says they can in emergency cases, but they need their flashers on and triangles up within 15 minutes.
The THP inspected and says it appears the driver hadn’t been there for more than a minute and was within the law.
“The DOT bumper on the end of the trailer is the line of defense, if you will, for rear end crashes,” said Mike Zimmerman, the Safety Director at Ash Transport in Chattanooga.
That bumper, is a safety feature to protect other drivers when they crash into the back of a semi-truck. But Mike Zimmerman, who has been in the trucking industry for 40 years, says if high rates of speed are involved, the bumper is no good.
“The DOT bumper was just another object for them to hit. The tragedy was going to result regardless,” he said.The speed of the minivan is not known at this time.
Zimmerman says when a vehicle reaches at least 50 miles an hour, it can become disastrous.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office says more than 200 underride crashes happen each year.
A bill sponsored by U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen from Tennessee proposes even more safety measures around the side and front of the trucks, which isn’t as simple as it sounds.
“It’s a significant cost, depending on how extravagant you wanted to get with it, but also weight,” Zimmerman said.Zimmerman says they already max out their trailers to the legal weight limits and adding more material will reduce the amount of product on the trailer and throw off the supply chain process.
“We may gain in a few clicks in safety, but we’re losing in so many other things because of all these added features,” he said. “It’s a tough balance to strike.”
No one in the van was from the Chattanooga area.
The semi-truck driver will not face charges.