High winds likely a factor in wrongful death truckiung accident

Last week near Columbus, Ohio, one man was killed and another seriously injured when a tractor trailer jackknifed and struck them as they sat parked on the side of the highway.  The two men were traveling in separate vehicles when one went off the road.  The other pulled to the side of the road and called for help.  The two men were sitting in the undamaged vehicle when they were hit by a tractor trailer.

The semi was pulling an empty trailer, and when the driver went to change lanes, the trailer jackknifed and he lost control of his vehicle, striking the car on the shoulder of the road that the two men were sitting in.  According to investigating officers, high winds may have been a factor in causing the wrongful death truck accident.

When people think of trucking accidents, the image that comes to mind is of the 80,000 pound, fully loaded trailer bearing down on the victim.  In fact, empty trailers also pose a serious problem for drivers.  When trailers are empty, the loss of weight from the cargo actually means that there is less friction between the tires and the road to help the driver slow down when he is trying to stop. 

In windy conditions such as those present at the time of this accident also make it hard to operate a tractor trailer safety.  When the trailer is empty, it does not have much weight, but it does have a sides which can act as a sail when they catch the wind and can pull the trailer out of alignment -- leading to jackknife truck accidents such as this.

The bottom line on accidents such as this:  1) it is the truck driver's duty to keep his rig under control, and 2) if the weather conditions are such that he cannot do this, then he needs to get off the road.