Horrible crash in Lakewood CO, I70 closed both directions. 12 vehicles 4 semi huge fire

Discussion in 'Trucking Accidents' started by Expeditor, Apr 25, 2019.

  1. mjd4277

    mjd4277 Road Train Member

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    Yup.
     
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  3. Skate-Board

    Skate-Board Road Train Member

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    Oh no, a Red Raider. I'm an ex Blue Devil
     
  4. mjd4277

    mjd4277 Road Train Member

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    The fire from the wreck was so intense that CDOT stated that that portion of I-70 suffered pavement damage. Temperatures from the fire reached up to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit!!
     
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  5. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    That truck did very badly downhill. The helicopter shot after the downhill segment revealed a short upgrade hill halfway between the mountain grades and the accident scene. He had a oppertunity to let the upgrade roll him out to a stop. But kept going. He even ran a pickup into the median downgrade just past the ramp.

    Further the tractor's behavior in body roll indicates the boy lost or panicked into the situation. To wit I-70 is not for children new to trucking in Colorado. The brakes were not too hot yet but were on their way enough to consider use of that ramp. Essentially a runaway.

    Same as he kept going downgrade past the nice fat escape ramp all ready for him. Keep going keep going keep going seems to be the physical language of this youngster. That got people killed.
     
  6. The Gels

    The Gels Light Load Member

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    I can attest to this. This is why I left CRE before I finished the school. I didnt feel I'd be a safe driver. The driver is ultimately the one responsible for what his or her truck does, but not the only one responsible. Let's look at some of these companies.
     
  7. LtlAnonymous

    LtlAnonymous Road Train Member

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    Yeah, he was utterly clueless. Ugh. So tragic.
     
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  8. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    It generally would do that. It is oil and what not that goes into mixing up pavement material. Desiel by itself is enough to ruin the pavement. (It's how we occasionally and rarely removed new paved driveways from those who broke contract. pour fuel break it up and haul it away. Remelt into fresh blacktop at the plant.)

    It's not often I see Aluminum melting like that. Reminds me of the Navy's reliance on the stuff in warships. They burn and melt way before steel does and a liability in battle damage control.

    I have a feeling this accident will change some things that might need changing in this industry. I would have also consider that the training situation is not as good as it should be. My own training from several instructors regarding mountain work is over the top but not a problem when they knew I had a fear of mountains. They made me a monster, a total opposite of being afraid of them in my younger years.
     
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  9. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    The lookout grade apparently is the last one before denver west. 254 mile marker for 4 miles at 6% escape ramp is around the 257 mm.

    I don't think this is exactly where the video was taken it's at another ramp. But anyway there is plenty of plain english warnings for truckers present. One prior to this one says three miles to go stay in lower gear etc.

    254 mile marker 4 mile warning.jpg About the 257 lookout past escape.jpg
     
  10. Bud A.

    Bud A. Road Train Member

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    I live in Colorado and have gone down that hill heavy quite a few times. That last stretch after Idaho Springs is deceptive, which is why there's a big yellow sign across the road telling you you're not down yet. There's even a couple of little upgrades before Genesee Park that makes you think maybe it's over. But wait! Why is there a runaway ramp!? Oh yeah, because then it's all downhill into the city.

    And when you get past 470, it gets more congested and has more curves. Even though it's pretty flat by the time you get to Denver West (where the wreck happened), the downgrade doesn't completely stop until around maybe Wadsworth or maybe even as far as I-25. Wadsworth is another six miles from where the wreck happened.

    If you slow down Burger Planet's video of the truck flying past him and go frame by frame, you can clearly see smoke coming off his drive wheels. (You can do that by pressing 'k' during the video, then ',' (comma) to go back a frame or '.' (period) to go forward a frame. The truck comes into the picture at 2:17.) There's no question in my mind that he had lost his brakes by this point, and I think it's pretty obvious he had lost them almost seven miles earlier at Lookout Mountain. The runaway ramp is located at about MM 256.75 or 257.

    He should have taken the ramp. The video shot near the runaway ramp makes that clear. I don't know why he didn't, but whatever the root cause of his failure to take the ramp isn't going to matter much to the people whose family and friends were killed by this driver. Don't put me on the jury unless you want him to get the death penalty. There's no excuse for driving over that hill with a full load and not knowing what precautions to take to make it safely. Language barrier, inexperience, whatever: you shouldn't be driving a heavy truck over I-70 in western Colorado without learning what to do and what not to do on mountain roads before you start out.

    By the way, there is no safe place to crash after you pass 470. It's all narrow shoulders and exit ramps into populated areas, so if you're going 80 with no brakes at 470, you'll probably still be doing 80 for another few miles with no good choices for getting it stopped.

    He should have taken the ramp.

    If you're a driver and are reading this, please make up your mind right now that if you find yourself on a steep grade and you're losing or have lost your brakes, you're going to take the first ramp that you can. And you're going to know where the ramps are before you go down the hill.
     
  11. Expeditor

    Expeditor Medium Load Member

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    I use to watch a show years ago I believe it was called seconds from disaster. It featured accidents that were recreated to show why they happened. It never ceased to amaze me how they came with the actual cause. Many things have to happen in a particulate order for things to go horribly wrong. One second this way or one second that way and no accident. I have said this to say many things contributed to this terrible accident. Many have said his age, inexperience,not enough training, he has a foreign name, the list goes on. In reality all the above contributed, not just one. Not every young person going down that mountain/hill crashes, not every foreigner crashes, not everyone without experience crashes. I believe it all added up to the devastating results that we see.

    This person might of not had the proper training on how to navigate steep downgrades, how to bring the truck back under the drivers control. That was the first piece of the puzzle. Next he was not proficient in English, this according to a spokesperson. He spoke some English but needed a interpreter when being questioned. That would explain not taking the run away ramp. Didn't understand it, or didn't have the proper training to use the ramp. He could of had a mechanical problem with the brakes. Only he knows the truth. Maybe he taught if he could make it down the hill he would be OK, didn't anticipate the slow/stopped traffic ahead. If that traffic wasn't there all he had to do was change his underwear after he came to a stop. Someone said he was using the shoulder, someone else said that mattress truck was parked on the shoulder to cool off his brakes?. By the way you don't cool your brakes by stopping, continue on so the air rushing pass them will cool them off. Again we don't know but just speculating, he see the truck on the shoulder stop, if he hits that he is dead, so he goes into the middle lanes. Someone else says he hit the bridge and bounced off, only he knows the truth.

    I hope all this places that are training drivers with English as their second language take notice. The law says you must be able to understand English command from LEO. I picked up in Florida once in a place that made cabinets, met a guy there that came over asking me all about trucking. I told him about my OTR trucking experience and told him to get his CDL. He told me he had it, so I asked him why he wasn't using it, he hated that cabinet place, he told me he didn't speak English or read it. I was blow back on how he could get his CDL without speaking English. For any driver in here that has gone to Miami knows that the majority of business speak only Spanish, same with Laredo TX.

    I have no problems with people trying to better themselves, just do it legally and learn the language, especially if you are going to drive. If this person had a green card like I heard and was allow to work in the USA, that means he was not born here so English was probably his second language, this is why I said he probably didn't understand the run away ramp. Only he knows the truth. I hope we don't see anymore of these accidents.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2019
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