Two people were injured earlier in an accident involving a truck that crashed into a railway bridge. The impact of the accident caused a huge block of concrete to fall off from the bridge, and onto the truck as well as another car below. The truck driver and the occupant of another vehicle sustained injuries in the accident.
According to authorities, the accident occurred at about nine in the morning, when the truck was trying to clear the railway bridge. It was a 13-foot high truck with a hydraulic lift, and it was trying to clear the bridge which is just about 13 feet and 5 inches high. The lift struck the bridge, leading to a large chunk of concrete breaking off and collapsing. The heavy 25-foot chunk of concrete fell on the truck, trapping the driver inside. Some more bridge debris fell onto another vehicle that was just behind the truck.
The driver of the truck was trapped inside for more than an hour. It took fire fighters that long to extricate him from the truck. He has suffered injuries to his leg and feet. The driver of the other vehicle that was also struck by the concrete debris has also suffered injuries. None of the injuries are reported to be life-threatening.
Injury attorneys which handle trucking accidents regular deal with truck accidents in which a driver or shipper fails to secure their loads. In this case, the driver of the truck has been charged with failure to obey a traffic control device, and failure to secure loads. The bridge had to be closed down for more than 48 hours while authorities determined whether it was safe for traffic to flow again. However, according to authorities, the damage to the bridge seems to be merely cosmetic, and doesn’t really affect the load-bearing capability of the bridge.
According to Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore, safety hazards with trucks striking the bridge have been a frequent problem over the past few years. There are several spots on the bridge where you can see damage denoting spots where trucks have collided with the bridge. According to Councilwoman Moore, she will look at finding ways to cut down the volumes of truck traffic underneath the bridge.
However, this most recent accident involving a truck colliding with the bridge could have had serious consequences. Large chunks of concrete falling onto vehicles below could have caused serious injuries. The two people who were injured here were lucky that that they escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
The authorities need to take a closer look at what they can do to make this area safer. Just because there were no deaths or serious injuries in this accident is no reason to be complacent. The problem with vehicles colliding against parts of the bridge has existed for years now, and it will not likely be long before we have a serious accident with injuries and deaths. According to authorities, there are plenty of signs around warning that the bridge is a low overpass, but authorities need to look at making these signs more visible to motorists or barring truck traffic from the roadway.