Two sheriff’s deputies and three highway workers were injured in an accident just before 5:00 am on Monday, January 25, 2016 in East El Paso. Construction crews were removing barriers on I-10 East near Lomaland Drive when a semi tractor-trailer ignored the patrol car emergency lights and hit two sheriff’s cars and the construction vehicle.
The sheriff’s patrol vehicles were blocking traffic to shield the construction workers as they worked. The five injured people were taken to area hospitals. One of the TX-DOT construction workers was seriously injured. The road was closed for seven hours.
There are many unanswered questions in this accident.
- Was the semi driver impaired?
- Was the driver properly trained and licensed?
- Did something go wrong with the semi’s brakes?
- What were the weather conditions at the time?
- Given the hour that the accident took place, did the driver fall asleep?
There are very specific laws regulating the semi truck industry in this country. Truck braking capacity can be a factor in litigation against trucking companies. These loaded trucks can take 20 to 40% further to stop than passenger cars. Since truck driver fatigue is a risk in highway safety, these drivers can only operate the vehicle for 11 hours at a time, and up to 77 hours over a seven-day period. But many drivers violate these regulations and work longer hours. In addition, driver’s logs are often left unfilled.
