While drivers who obtain a commercial driver’s license or go to school to drive tractor trailers are often the safest drivers on the roads, the number of accidents involving tractor trailers is on the rise. Moreover, there are some statistics regarding these vehicles and their drivers that are sobering. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 27% of large trucks on the road were found to have brake problems. Further, 19% of the drivers were not familiar with the route they were driving and 7% of drivers were overtired. Five percent drove in an aggressive manner. All of these facts can contribute to the accident like the one reported by WSB Radio that killed one person and injured others.
The crash, which shut down Interstate 285 near Camp Creek Parkway for hours, happened on June 19th.
At around noon, a tractor-trailer that was headed north struck three other tractor-trailers and then struck the back of a passenger car.
The impact with the passenger car caused the vehicle to become wedged beneath one of the tractor trailers. 62-year-old Kimberly Diane Caldwell, the driver of that vehicle, was killed at the scene.
In the accident, one of the cabins to the 18-wheeler was crushed and mangled.
In all, five people were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital to be treated for their injuries.
The two rightmost lanes along with the exit to Camp Creek Parkway remained closed for hours following the crash to allow for cleanup and investigation.
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