On Friday, an Amtrak train heading to California from Chicago collided with a tractor-trailer in Nevada, leaving six people dead and many more seriously injured. The truck driver was leading a three-truck convey for a company called Battle Mountain. When asked about the truck accident, the two other drivers said they saw the train coming and wondered why the lead driver didn’t seem to be stopping.
When the driver finally slammed on the brakes, he left a 320-foot skid mark on the highway. The train crossing has signs as far back as 900 feet. Gates and flashing lights activate 25 seconds before trains reach the crossing. Investigations into the trucking company revealed 17 violations for faulty equipment, as well as two crashes since 2009. In one instance, a Battle Mountain truck was operating with bald tires; in another, the springs were missing or defective.
Investigators do not expect to recover any information from the tractor-trailer’s data recorder (its “black box”) due to the severity of the damage. A section of the tractor remained embedded in the side of a train car.
The size and weight of a commercial truck makes it a danger everywhere it goes on the road, requiring extreme care and precise control on the part of its driver. Devastating accidents like these are all the more unsettling because they could have been prevented.
If you or one of your loved ones has been injured in a truck accident with a reckless driver in Nevada, please contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at The Cochran Firm today for a free initial consultation.
