Crash Traps Officer on Atlanta Road in Smyrna Road in Georgia, (GA)

SMYRNA, GA- Patch.com writes that a police officer in Smyrna, Georgia, was involved in a collision with a semi-truck that left him trapped inside of his patrol car. The incident took place at Atlanta Road and Windy Hill Road.*

The police officer was extracted from the vehicle and transported to the WellStar Kennestone Hospital for treatment. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. The report did not include information about the cause of the wreck. 

In 2018, crashes involving large trucks killed 4,136 people, most of whom were occupants of smaller passenger cars. Trucks create a number of risks to anyone on the road. In addition to the dangers created by the sheer size of these vehicles is the fact that large truck drivers are often behind the wheel for long stretches of time. 

Federal regulations state that truckers cannot operate their vehicles for more than eleven hours at a time. However, fatigue becomes a problem long before the eleven-hour limit. Studies indicate that after eight hours of driving, truckers double the risk of being involved in a crash. 

Another issue that leads to truck crashes is faulty equipment. Defective truck equipment increases the risk of accidents. Truck brakes were the largest of these problems and were found in 56 percent of truck crashes. Steering wheel defects were identified in more than one out of every five truck collisions. 

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), new technology available for trucks is capable of reducing the number of such incidents. Features such as blind-spot detection, lane departure technology, and forward-collision warning systems could help lower the number of incidents that occur each year. 

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or a family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://patch.com/georgia/smyrna/police-officer-rescued-after-semitruck-lands-car

https://www.iihs.org/topics/large-trucks#:~:text=Per%20unit%20of%20travel%2C%20large,1.4%2C%20respectively)%20in%202017.&text=In%202018%2C%204%2C136%20people%20died%20in%20crashes%20involving%20large%20trucks.