One Dead In Tragic Crash When Tanker Truck Rolls Over on Highway 16 in Denver, North Carolina

DENVER, NC- Wcnc.com writes that a tanker truck caught fire following a deadly collision earlier this week during the afternoon. The initial crash involved the truck and one other vehicle. The driver operating the truck died at the scene, and the motorist in the other vehicle suffered injuries and was taken to a local hospital.*

After the tanker overturned, the truck began to leak fuel onto the ground. Emergency personnel removed the driver from the cab, and the fire started moments later. The truck and the surrounding ground began to burn and fuel leaked into the ground and a creek. Firefighters extinguished the flames within about twenty minutes of arriving on-site, but the fire later started again. One of the firefighters sustained injuries while working at the scene. Images show the massive vehicle on its side while responders rush to try to contain the blaze. 

Large trucks present many risks to people on the road. These massive vehicles pose complications for the drivers who must maneuver them. In an emergency, the motorist may be incapable of stopping quickly or swerving. Taking abrupt actions in a semi can lead to the vehicle overturning or jackknifing. 

It is extremely important for truck drivers to travel at reasonable speeds, and for other drivers to give plenty of space to tractor-trailers. A large truck traveling at 65 miles per hour can take the length of two football fields to stop completely, and farther if the roads are slick. When a fatal crash occurs between a truck and a smaller vehicle, the victims are most often occupants of the smaller car. 

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 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://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/highway-shut-down-near-denver-nc-after-major-crash/275-637d4420-7cf3-41c8-8953-16aa0202b508 and https://www.iihs.org/topics/large-trucks and https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ourroads/long-stopping-distances