NTSB to Hold Hearing to Examine Hazmat Truck Rollover | DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

Following a fireball accident involving a propane truck rollover and explosion accident in Indiana last October, the National Transportation Safety Board is examining whether enough is being done to prevent tanker trucks hauling hazardous loads from rolling over. “Tankers, more than other trucks, are susceptible to rollovers because the weight distribution of the liquid they carry can shift suddenly if vehicle changes direction too quickly. A two-day hearing on the fiery crash begins Tuesday.”

The hearing will focus on a wide range of truck safety issues:

• “Vehicle design changes,
• Capability and limitations of electronic stability control systems,
• Role of driver training and testing,
• Roadway factors that could contribute toward vehicle instability,
• Initiatives to protect highway bridge piers from vehicle impacts, and
• Crashworthiness standards for cargo tanks transporting high-risk hazardous materials.”

On average, there are 1,265 cargo tanker rollovers each year.  As a result, safety on our nation’s highways is becoming more challenging each year.  Since trucks represent a disproportionate share of highway rollovers, investigations such as the one proposed by NTSB may help institute new requirements aimed at keeping unsafe tankers off the highways.

Do you have any questions about this post?

About the author:

Mr. Zambri is a board-certified civil trial attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocates and a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a “Big Gun” and among the “top 1%” of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as “one of Washington’s best–most honest and effective lawyers” who specializes in personal injury matters, including automobile accident claims, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, and work-accident claims. He has successfully litigated multiple cases against truck and bus companies, the Washington Metropolitan Area transit Authority, and other automobile owners.  His law firm, in fact, has obtained the largest settlement ever in a personal injury case involving WMATA.  Mr. Zambri has also been named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” by Best Lawyers (2011 edition), as well as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2010)– national publications that honor the top lawyers in America.

If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at [email protected] or call him at 202-822-1899.