Please Note: This trailer was a double axial trailer and under FEDERAL Laws needed to be equipped with a breakaway cable and breaks.
What Happened? Who is minding the ship? Who is responsible for ensuring public safety with regards to these trailers. Why are trailers coming loose and flying across our highways?
What penalty's are going to be imposed?
Staff Writers Updated 12:30 AM Tuesday, November 3, 2009
FAIRBORN — A 700-gallon plastic water tank came off a trailer and struck a car, forcing the vehicle into a ravine and injuring the driver.
The accident happened on Interstate 675, just north of Ohio 235, at 7:55 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2.
According to Fairborn Battalion Chief David Reichert, a man was driving south on I-675 in a pickup truck that had a trailer hauling the water tank. The trailer came loose from the vehicle and went into the median. The water tank separated from the trailer and hit a woman’s car headed north on I-675, pushing the vehicle down a ravine. Paramedics had to cut the door off to free the woman, identified as Michelle Brewer, 29, of Harveysburg. She was taken to Miami Valley Hospital for treatment .
The truck driver, whose name was not available, was cited for having an unsecured load and for hit-and-run, Fairborn Sgt. Paul Hicks said.
Ron Melancon of Richmond, Va., who runs the Web site DangerousTrailers.org, said an estimated 102 people have died in Ohio since 1975 from accidents that involved passenger cars towing trailers.
Melancon is an advocate for national standards governing all trailers. He
added that for safety’s sake, at minimum trailers should be required to have
reflective tape, safety chains and a two-hour required course for all
those who operate them.
