Overturned Gas Tanker Truck Spills 3,800 Gallons of Fuel Into DeLand Roadway
A tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline and diesel overturned in Volusia County March 6, the television station WESH reported. The single-vehicle accident happened at about 4:15 a.m. that day, the article said, when the trucker slowed for traffic, lost control and ended up with a truck rollover accident. The truck ended up in a retention pond, into which it leaked 3,800 gallons of fuel from six places. Authorities closed traffic in both directions and called a hazardous materials crew to deal with the leak. They also closed a nearby business as a precaution.
All of this was necessary because hazmat trucks, as the trucking industry calls them, are some of the most dangerous trucks to be around after an accident. As a South Florida trucking accident lawyer, I know hazmat trucks don’t get into significantly more accidents than other kinds of trucks -- but when they do, even uninvolved people in the surrounding community can be in danger. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, found in a study that hazmat trucks were three times more likely to be in a rollover accident like this one. They were also 50% more likely to have a cargo spill and caught fire more than three times as often, possibly because 64% of cargo releases in hazmat crashes are flammable liquids.
This Florida semi truck accident almost certainly caused some amount of environmental damage by spilling thousands of gallons of gas and diesel into the retaining pond by the side of the road. By the same token, the gas fumes probably posed a threat to people who had the bad luck to breathe in the area. It could also have posed a serious threat of fire, if any source of flame had come into contact with the spilled fuel, including a fire in the wrecked truck. And of course, the drivers in the area faced all the same threats they would face in any Florida truck crash -- not least the risk of a rollover onto a nearby vehicle. Even when no other cars and trucks are involved, an accident with a hazmat truck can pose serious dangers to everyone around.
When trucks crash through driver inattention, poor maintenance or other problems caused by the trucker or trucking company, those people are legally responsible for any injuries the crashes cause. Victims in these wrecks have the right to sue for the costs of the accident, including lost wages from missed work, as well as compensation for a death in the family, serious injury or permanent disability. If you or someone you love has been hurt in this way, my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, can help you learn more. To set up a free consultation on your injuries, please call us at (934) 431-8100 or contact us online as soon as possible.
