A young man from Tampa was killed in a crash with a semi truck on I-10 East on March 16, 2016 around 2:45 p.m. The trailer of a semi truck hit the side of a 2002 Ford SUV around mile marker 219 while the big rig was changing lanes. Both vehicles were traveling westbound. The SUV was knocked into the median and onto the eastbound side of the highway, directly into incoming traffic. Another semi crashed head first into the SUV, and the SUV burst into flames.
The driver of the SUV, a 23-year-old man, died in the crash. Before the crash, he was seeking his master’s degree in biology and wanted to attend Johns Hopkins to become a doctor. Charges are pending against the driver of the first semi, according to Florida state troopers. That driver was not injured in the accident.
Sideswipe Semi Crashes Are Dangerous
Semi trucks have many blind spots, even if they have large mirrors on the side of the vehicle. Truck drivers are supposed to take extra care when changing lanes for precisely this reason. There are other factors that can contribute to semi truck accidents. High winds can cause semis to veer around on the roads. An unloaded trailer is likely to veer into other lanes, and a loaded trailer is harder to control. Speeding, especially combined with high winds, make trucks more likely to swerve. Tractor trailers are supposed to be balanced in certain ways to make sure the vehicle is stable on the road.
