Last week, we wrote about the accident on the New Jersey Turnpike that killed one man and critically injured several others, including comedian Tracy Morgan. The accident came about when a tractor-trailer rear-ended a luxury bus that was transporting the group from a performance in Delaware. While the accident received attention because of the celebrity of its victims, it was hardly a unique event on the Turnpike.
In fact, just two days after that crash, another similar big rig accident took place, again shutting down traffic for several hours. A commercial vehicle driver failed to stop for a line of cars that had slowed down. The driver tried to swerve out of the way at the last minute, but slammed into a car that was in a line of at least five other vehicles.
The truck’s momentum continued it forward; it struck several other cars, sending two of them into a concrete barrier in the median. The driver of one of those cars that hit the barrier was killed in the accident. Several other drivers and passengers were injured in the crash, including a 2-year-old girl.
It isn’t clear what led the driver to fail to slow down in time. In the Morgan crash, sleep deprivation was suspected to be a cause of the crash, but it’s not known if that was a factor in this crash.
In any case, both of these accidents can serve as reminders that accidents caused by other drivers, particularly commercial truck drivers, can be costly in terms of medical bills — and, unfortunately, human lives.
Source: The Star-Ledger, “Two days after Tracy Morgan crash, rig driver fails to stop in time, motorist dies,” Seth Augenstein, June 11, 2014