The weigh station at mile marker 343 showed a red light on Wednesday July 17th for what turned out to be too long, making a huge backup of trucks, causing drivers to have to slam on their brakes in order to prevent an accident. One trucker couldn’t brake fast enough and ended up dead.
The trucker was killed when his truck rear-ended the rig in front of him, causing the load to roll off the back and crush his cab while he was still inside. The line for the southbound I-75 weigh station that he was coming up on was so unexpectedly long that it stretched out onto the highway.
There has been no official claim of whether or not this was caused by driver error, but since it was one truck rear-ending another, it is likely to be ruled as such.
As one user on our forum put it, “I wonder how many CSA points that scale house gets for contributing to that fatality?”
Check out this video from myworldnews about the accident.
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All in the name of money.
If it was at the Ringold, Ga .site. i concur that they usually have the furthest sign kinda all gargled up, the other sign reads open. So it can be confusing.
Last Thursday there was a trucker not paying much attention to what was going on, and
while approaching the scale he found out that it was open, and cut off all the other trucks without even using his/ her directionals to enter the scale house.
Well the “chicken coup” is partially at fault. However, the driver may have had a big part in what happened to him as well.
From what I read in the short version of the article, he had to slam on his brakes. There are several variables to this but if this poor soul would have been paying attention to what was going on in front of him, he could have most likely have made a safe and complete stop.
Again from what I was able to figure out by the article is that a coil of metal was able to break away and roll over the cab. This could happen for several different reasons. The securing devices may not have been adequate for the weight of the load carried, did not have enough of the securement devices in place, they were not cinched down enough or the securement devices may have bee old and failed. I do know from experience is that if the load on a flatbed is not properly secured it will kill you and others around you!
I do feel sorrow for the man’s family. If he was married and had a family, that family will no longer have a father or the wife will have a husband. However the “haters” will start slamming this response and especially the law if it was found out that it was complacency. When operating these vehicles, you cannot get complacent not even for a single moment. Fatal results will occur and it will not look good for anyone especially the trucking industry.
It was bound to happen, I am from NC and they think nothing of backing traffic out in the highway at weigh stations. Dot personnel need to be held responsible and in some cases charged with negligent homicide. The funny thing(not funny ha ha)is, one reason for these weigh/inspection stations is safety, this just proves they are only concerned with the money from fines.
I never stop for a weight station if the truck line is out into the freeway. I have been passing them for years.
you got it driver, a line up isnt worth risking my butt for. They can chase me down for a ticket.
yea, i too do not stop if the line is backed out into the highway just for that reason.
Yup
Looks like somebody driving to fast and load not tied down .
There is no proof speed was a factor. It could be that if the line of trucks was about 1/2 to a mile long it was not expected by the driver to where the end was when he came upon it. I am sure he expected to see the line but not such a long one. Speed?. Your excepting the so called journalist wording and some officer that was not present at the crash. Conjecture at best.
I do agree that the coil was not properly secured to prevent it from coming off the trailer.
no amount of securement will keep a load on a flatbed in a bad enough crash.
I drove flatbed for years and if a load is secured properly that load should still be secured to the trailer!!!!!!!!!
Even when that truck comes to a sudden stop? Remember the rules of inertia.
In all( his load broke loos )
That’s been a problem for years.
People DoIt RIGHT
More changes
Same here, if the line is out onto the interstate I go by, safer than contributing to a wreck, common sense.
The DOT has lost sight of its mission.
It has gone from an organization meant to keep America’s transportation safer, to one which seems bent upon the persecution of one particular aspect of it. Truckers.
How many more truck drivers are going to have to lose their lives before this governmental body wakes up?
Sounds like it was the Ringgold, GA scales. They’ve had their prepass turned off for quite a while now in both directions. I always get a red prepass light there, loaded or empty. They should learn where the “on” switch for prepass is at. That would do away with lots of the backup.
They seem to be afraid that a truck may go by with a problem or a mistake on the log book. REVENUE Enhancement or simply put GREED.
I just recently talked my way out of a bypass ticket for the same reason…The line was in the INTERSTATE and I simply drove around it…The trooper wasn’t happy but I told him I didn’t want to get rear ended by the 4 trucks behind me!
Yep. If safety is really the issue, then they can’t persecute you for doing what’s right.
We shouldn’t make assumptions without any specifics. It is possible that driver came up over a hill or around a corner and all of a sudden trucks were stopped ahead if him. (You could say he was following too closely ). The sad fact is a fellow driver just like you and me is not going home to his family no matter who is at fault. My prayers are with him and his family.
It was most likely a misjudgment on the drivers part. When you’re rolling down the road, you don’t expect ALL of the trucks to come to a complete halt, and if they do a driver will usually have an escape route that allows them to veer off into another lane to dodge that bullet. When it’s a scale house that’s causing all of the trucks to stop, and a driver realizes it too late they only have two choices, veer off and blow the scale and face what could possibly come after them later, or try to stop. This driver obviously tried to stop.
So much for the load securement, it was a coil. I’ve heard it refered to as the “Juggernaut” because once it decides to move, there’s not much that’s going to be able to stop it. No one cause argue his securement methods because no one was there. But most should know you only need to secure half of the weight to be legal. Anyone know what the rating of a “stake pocket” is? It’s sure not half the weight of a 48k lb steel coil.
If one stake pocket rips/tears you’re going to get slack in that chain, and if that coil manages to move an inch, it’s not going to stop moving until it makes it to where it wants to be which is usually in the trunk of a car. Bottom line, quit trying to stop for a scale house when trucks are on in the travel lane or on the shoulder.
10000 for a stake pocket. Your not suppose to use those for chanes anyways. You need to use the chane spool. The round (circle) part of the rub rail. It’s has a WLL of 15000. The 5/16 chains are 4700 WLL. STAKE POCKETS ARE OLD SCHOOL DANGEROUS!
Not completely so. Only the newer trailers have the hi strength spool set up. Older trailers it was the pocket. Spools could not hold a chain for a load like a coil. They for the most part would be doing good to keep the rub rail from being squashed against the bed.
I used to own one and know for a fact about that.
They have 2 signs there at that particular scale. One says its closed and the other says its open. And 75% of the time, the prepares is off. Common sense is lacking that scale too!
Reading through the comments, something else people seem to forgot to mention is that hardly anyone travels with their CB on anymore, if they even have one. If that coop was open, most of the old timers would have been announcing it miles down the road, so the driver would have known about it.
People need to hang up the cell phones and start communicating with other drivers once in awhile, might save a few lives.
Amen! to that.
How many times have you looked over at that idiot passing you wbo has one foot on the dash and a cell phone to his ear. ..What’s his reaction time to a situation like this or a front steer blow out.. This is driver error no matter what and this guy will have the rest of his life to rerun the what ifs but his driving days are over..
I don’t no why they even stop when they are backed up I tell all my drivers that work for me if a scale house is backed up on the road by pass the scale and I have never once had anyone come after a driver and if they did I would take care of all fines it’s important to me to have my drivers make it home safe by pass the scale guy really !!!!
I remember being in Chattanooga last weak getting loaded, and hearing one of this guy’s co-workers talking about this accident. He said he just didn’t know what to think, he’d known that driver for years, and it just wasn’t like him to do something like that. He said the guy has hauled steel coils for years, so he knew how to secure them right. But I’m like some of you, if the line is out in the road, I’m going on. I did that Wednesday at the northbound Ringgold scale. Trucks were out in the road, so we kept going. My life is more important than some overzealous d.o.t. kid wanting to get off by seeing how many tickets he can write.
I just spoke with Georgia DOT and the official statement is this. I asked if the ramp is full should I bypass it to be safe. “Yes you can bypass it, that is your right. However you will receive a ticket.” I then asked stated I will receive a ticket for being safe? I thought you was all about safety. “Yes you will receive a ticket for being safe”
the law states that if the traffic is backed up onto the highway then you can legally bypass them.
Is that a fact about such a law or just what you heard?
only if it say’s to by-pass the scale if traffic is out to the highway. some say to use the shoulder if the traffic is to the highway. to me this would have been a judgement call. I would have kept going. it’s not worth yours or anyone else’s life. if the state troopers or officials don’t agree, then let them explain that to the family. in any case the truck driver is always going to be blamed for what ever happened. even if it wasn’t your fault, it’s all just a messed up system.
Not a Law in Idaho, however we allow it
In my opinion, DOT is a contributing factor in this or any other accident in or around their scales. What I have seen is, the scales are poorly marked, rarely manned, and set up to “catch” a trucker. It is not surprising that they caused a fatality at one of those facilities. I personally witnessed a truck slam on his breaks, putting himself and many other motorists at risk so he would not by- pass a DOT manned scale. Hey Jerks, get a clue.
This is just one of several accidents that has happened over the years at this scale. They want you dollar so they turn off the Pre-Pass to make everbody scale . That sorry excuse for a ramp can fill up quick.
If the last truck in a line that was out on the hi way had his flashers on…
I have ran past this scale with an Oversize load when they flipped the open sign on and they chased me down and I had to turn around and come back and they checked all my paperwork etc and it was all in order and they let me go. If you can’t do it safely, don’t even attempt it. Experience out here is soooo important, and I know that everyone has to start somewhere, but these schools and training facilities just aren’t doing enough and they are turning a lot of students out who are just accidents looking for a place to happen, Pretty Scarey
Bingo!
” If you can’t do it safely, don’t even attempt it. Experience out here is soooo important, and I know that everyone has to start somewhere, but these schools and training facilities just aren’t doing enough and they are turning a lot of students out who are just accidents looking for a place to happen, Pretty Scarey”
Sad, that this happen. I know that this could have happen if traffic was stopped due to a accident and the driver fail to pay attention to traffic in front of him, but I also feel that the Georgia DOT weight station was also partly to blame. It is their responsibility as well as the drivers to try to keep the highways safe and they failed to do that, putting life in harms way.
I have a DVR that runs all the time in my front window. I paid just under $41 for it on eBay. It just keeps looping until I lock a segment. You can play it back instantly for the cop if he gives you crap….or you can save it and show it to the judge. Secondly, no one has mentioned that the exit 345 on ramp comes on a half mile before the scales ramp and those 4 wheelers come off there with a vengeance. It’s very easy for this situation to come about when you’re trying to keep from hitting a crazy Ivan….
This is a horrible tragedy for the driver and family.
But once again a gov’t agency will escape some sort of fault. What a stupid and careless policy to
let the line back up that much, as I have encountered this situation before, but scanning a quarter of a mile ahead and listening to my radio, I safely passed it by. No matter, this poor soul was a victim
of ridiculous means of so called safety and revenue.
Tragic indeed and prayers for the Drivers’ family and friends.
Never admit to a cop you intentionally by-passed a scale. “Knowingly” by-passing a scale, thanks to the Patriot Act, is punishable as an act of terrorism. If you do decide for safety reasons and are subsequently pulled over, # 1 Say nothing ! or # 2 say you didn’t see or know the scale was where the lane stoppage was.
I’m serious. Do not admit because you know there are ticket happy cops. Unfortunately, we gotta be in their game.
“Knowingly” by passing a scale is in no way terrorsim. That is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. I work for the Idaho Transportation Department Port of Entry. In Idaho it is simply bypassing a Port of Entry, no points nor reported to S.A.F.E.R. for C.S.A. Although there is nothing in law that allows you to bypass a scale when trucks are backed out onto the mainline traffic, any P.O.E supervisor would back up the driver if there was any type of evidence the ramp was filled up.
Claiming that you didn’t see it could possibily result in a serious inattentave driving citation which is in the reckless driving classification with a lot of points.
I don’t know about you but I think all weigh stations should be required to have sensors to determine if the lane is full and automatically set the lights to by- pass scale. Lord knows they have sensors for everything else . it’s hard to say maybe he toped a hill and they were all stopped or someone pulled out in front of him to sneak on by like a lot do , but one thing is for sure as money for the states get tighter, the tighter the rope gets around the truckers neck and wallet!
It’s easy to blame the driver because he is after all the captain of the ship, but we all know having been out there , that there is no reason for the scales to let lines form that long. That is a tragedy waiting to happen.
A good number of years ago the state of TN got into a incident simalure to this. One scale would hold up trucks for unsafe lengths of time and this resulted in trucks being on shoulder and this is unsafe for all motorists. An over size that was wide had a Dozer on. A van trying to pass on the interstate side didn’t . The right front part of the cab at windshield level hit the blade. The scale master was finally charged for causing it to happen. He made the erroneous decision to not allow any trucks pass until they weighed. Wrong decision but it did wake up the rest of the scale masters and the powers to be made changes. It also uncovered some ” illegal contributions ” for certain TN HP officers of rank.
Someone needs to file a class action suit against the GA highway patrol and those that condone this kind of operation at scales. Officers make this decision. sue them and their supervisors. I would think a $5million dollar suit should be about right to wake up the powers to be and the public.
Truckers fault.
Insecure load and not paying attention/driving too fast.
yup that’s why i drive right past the scale house when there a line i refuse to put myself or other at harms way just because dot wants to check my weight
I drive flatbed for a reputable company who instills safety to all of us. I feel the coil could have came loose for several reasons. But I also feel the impact of the accident has a lot to do with it. I see many scale houses, and from state to state their signs will mean one thing one place then in another state they will be opposite. I feel DOT is 100% at fault for this. And should be accountable. 99% of the drivers I see do all they can to be the safest folks on the road.
GA. has turned off prepass for months now, pulling all trucks in. There you go scale master good job.
i pull a flatbed around the united states and i do have experiance with hauling coils according to federal DOT regulation on a 48,000 lb coil they require u to have at least half the weight of the coil for securment which will safely secure the coil to ur trailer but when it comes to a rear impact with another truck we have to think about the straign on these chains and binders and we really have to use common sense if that coil wants to move it dont matter how much securement u use its goin to move and as for the weight station once the off ramp was full the scale master should have closed the scale until it was safe to reopen i have run into this situation before and my prepass gave me a red light but instead of stopping in the travel lane or pulling to the shoulder i run the scale and i will take my chances that way id rather get a ticket than have someone call my family and tell them im never comming home again so to me this accident could have been avoided if the scale master had been paying attention
what a lot of people lack the common sense to realize, flatbedders don’t secure the load to just keep it on the trailer, the point is to keep it from moving.
once it starts moving, nothing will keep it on the trailer, a 40+ thousand pound coil will exceed the working load limit of all the securement you can throw on it in a crash when you factor in the force generated by the crash itself.
quite a few folks here apparently need to stick with swinging doors.
Sadly I have been in these steel mills and see these covered wagons/curtains come in and be out in 15 minutes. Some drivers get to comfortable. Using 2 chains and haul a@@ing. Just saying. Also I agree with everybody I have passed scales because of the back ups. May the dead rest in peace. All my flatbed brothers be safe out there.
Yes the people at the scales should pay attention but if 15 trucks come at the exact same time no one can control the back up that is going to happen so drivers need to pay attention just as well. When traffic in front of you slows then you need to as well. It is not fair to blame one or the other when something like this happens because nothing is going to bring him back to his family and that is sad.
It was not a flatbed is a van load the pin broke on the trailer crashed into the sleeper with all these modern knowledge there is no reason for scalehouse the way it’s on the road going up to slo there is no reason for scalehouse anymore they weigh us on the road we don’t have to slow down for over 50 years I’ve been on this road you can’t even leave The shipper if you’re overweight mail even know what you’re looking for when I do do inspections
I was a driver for 30 years hung it up in 2008 I just want to say do all your drivers out there still doing it God bless you man I just couldn’t put up with it anymore