Accident Caused by Chicane

Thursday Morning early there was a wreck on US Highway 169 3 miles north of Nowata, Oklahoma. The wreck was caused by a driver trying to go through the Chicane that was put in place to protect the bridge workers. The signs showed a curve but not a chicane. The speed was 45 and the driver was going 38 when he entered the chicane. He was hauling a load of liquor in bottles. The quick turns required to make the chicane caused the trailer to swing back and forth. He clipped the last barrier and broke the steering link and then went off the road crossing the other lane and ended up in a ditch 20 feet below the road way. The tractor trailer was a complete loss.

The chicane was three quaters of a mile north of the work site and the site was not active at night. The question is, as the purpose of the Chicane is to disable traffic that is going over the designed speed of the chicane should the bridge company be liable for the accident?

Did anyone else see the accident or the result?

 

Not my wreck. And Driver going to fast for conditions would make all wrecks the drivers fault. What happened here is that the bridge company decided to booby trap a section of the road. There is no reason to put a chicane on a highway when a sweeping curve would do the same thing. Chicanes are for racetracks not highways.

 

I have been through the Chicane there twice before. I knew it was there. The driver involved was on his first past through the place. It was not mark as a chicane. It was marked as a curve. It was also marked as 45 MPH. Speed bumps are placed on roads to slow traffic down. Most have a speed sign by them. The signs might read 15 mph. I believe you would tear up your car if you hit a speed bump at 15 mph. Going through this Chicane at the recommended speed of 45 mph in a loaded semi trailer is dangerous. It is dangerous by design. Thus the booby trap. You can make the road safe for workers without having to make is unsafe for truckers.

A chicane is an artificial feature creating extra turns in a road, used in motor racing and on streets to slow traffic for safety.

My point is that the safety of a trucker should be just as important as the safety of a worker. I hope the driver sues the highway department and the bridge folks. If he lived that is.