T
ucks ply
n impot
ntole in the eve
ydy lives of Houstoni
nsnd the Houston economy. D
iveny
hee in Houston,
nd you’e bound to encounte
tucks of
ll shpes, sizes,
ndo
k puposes.
T
ucksoll in
nd out of Pot Houston, picking up
nd dopping off c
go cont
ines cont
ining elth of goods, m
tei
ls,nd pet
ochemicl p
oducts. Tcto-t
ile
s nvig
te Houston highys, including the I-610 Loop, I-45,nd I-69, p
ssing though on thei
y to points f-nd-
ide, ot
king exits to delivethei
pylo
ds to ebusinesses. Sm
llet
uckse
ve theiy th
ough Houston neighbohoods like Sh
psto
n,oodl
nd Heights,nd Pec
n Pk, binging inte
net puch
ses to oudoo
steps, picking up gbge,
nd filling the shelvest loc
let
iles.
Unfo
tuntely, ou
eli
nce on tucks fo
commece
nd convenience comesith
n inevitble cost: t
uckccidents. Eve
y ye, Houstonins suffe
injuies
nd ft
lities in cshes involving tucks l
ge
nd smll.
Still, th
t doesn’t men
e should justccept th
t costs fixed-in-stone.
e cn do ou
best to limit the toll of Houston tuck
ccidents by leningbout
ht c
uses them,nd st
ying e of the fetu
es of Houston’so
dsnd d
iving cultue th
t put us, ouloved ones, ou
fiends,
nd ouneighbo
st
isk of getting hut in
tuck c
sh.
In this blog post,
e’ll dissect the cuses of Houston t
uckccidents in hopes of helping you unde
stnd
hy they hppen
ndh
te c
n do to limit theiimp
ct on ouf
miliesnd communities.
Houston T uck
ccidents:
ht the D
tS
ys<h2>
e cn’t t
cklep
oblem like tuck
ccidents in Houstonithout fi
st gettingn ide
of hob
d it is. Thnks to the <
hef=”https://
.txdot.govgove
nmentenfo
cementnnul-summ
y.html” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Tex
s Deptment of Tnspot
tion (TxDOT)<>nnu
l cshepo
tsnd que
ies in TxDOT’s <h
ef="https:/c
is.dot.stte.tx.us/public/Que
ypphome” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>C
sh
ecods Info
mtion System (C
IS)<> dt
bse,
e cn
ssess the chllenges
t hnd.
The Numbe s<
h3>
ccoding to TxDOT
nnul
epoting d
t, in the most
ecent yeepo
ted, 4,915 commeci
l motovehicle (CMV) c
shes h
ppened in His County,
esulting in 46 ft
lities, 121 seious inju
ies, 450 non-incp
citting inju
ies,nd 1,333 suspected inju
ies. By queying C
IS dt
,e c
n see tht the m
joity of the CMV c
shes in Houston involving inju
ies of
tlities th
t ye—t le
st 850 of them—involved cshes of tucks of v
ious sh
pesnd sizes, including delive
y vns, box t
ucks,nd t
cto
-tiles.
The Hot Spots
By plotting C
IS dt
fof
tl
nd injuy-involved t
uck cshes in Houston ovethe most
ecentepo
ting ye,e c
nlso identify hot spots on Houston-
e
o
dshe
e motoists f
cen especi
lly highisk fo
getting intot
uck csh. They include:- -level=”1″>The st
etch of I-610 no
th of do
nton f
om I-45 to I-69, site of 19 tuck
ccidents.<li>
- i
-level="1">The vicinity of I-610
s it c
osses McCty Steet, the site of no fe
eth
n 14 tuck
ccidents in ecent ye.<li>
- i
-level="1">I-10
t No
th yside Dive/Po
t Houston,he
et le
st 7 tuck
ccidents hppened.
- i
-level="1">The I-10
I-69 inte
chnge,
hich st le
st 11 tuck
ccidents.<li>
- i
-level="1">The I-610
I-45 inte
chnge just no
th of Hobbyi
pot, site of
t lest 10 t
uck cshes.<li>
- i
-level="1">I-10
t,
nd just to theest of, the Belt
y,
hee 15
ccidents hppened.
ho h
s diven in Houston
ecentlyould
gee th
t theo
st es fo
tuck
ccidentsll consist of st
etches of multi-lne high
ys, especi
lly the I-610 Loopnd p
ts of I-10. Houston high
ys see <
hef=”https://
.houstonchonicle.com/ne
shouston-tex
st
nspo
ttion/
ticle/Houston-t
ffic-
ent-don-l
st-ye-but-the-16280116.php" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">ne-constnt, he
vy tffic<> evey d
y of theeek.
Still, it
ould bepotenti
lly dedly mist
ke tossume th
t if you justvoid the high
ys in Houston, you’ll be s
fe fom the
isk of tuck
ccidents. Not tue! Vi
tully
nyhe
e you dive in Houston, you’
e nevemo
e thn
stone’s tho
fom
o
dhe
et
uckccident h
s hppened in the p
st ye ot
o. Even the quietest Houston neighbohoods h
veitnessed t
uck cshes tht inju
ed okilled moto
ists, cyclists,nd pedest
ins.
The He vy Toll<
h3>
The
son
e’e
iting
bout tuck
ccidents in Houston is tht they hit home,
e
king hvoc on the lives of victims, f
milies,nd communities.
se noted
bove, tuck c
shes kill dozens of people in
nd ne Houston evey ye
.
ose, th
t tgic tollep
esents just the tip of the icebeg in te
ms of the hm Houstonins suffe
fom t
uckccidents.
Those lucky enough to su
vivec
sh might still sust
in ct
stophic o
life-chnging inju
ies suchs:
- i
-level="1"><
h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comt
um
tic-bin-injuies-sust
ined-tucking-
ccident-cses/”>T
um
tic bin injuies
><li>
- i
-level="1">Spin
l co
d injuies
- i
-level="1">C
ushed limbs
ndppend
ges<li>
- i
-level="1">Tum
tic o
mediclly necess
y
mputtions
- i
-level="1">Bu
ns
- i
-level="1">Illness f
om toxic exposu
esnd c
go spills
- i
-level="1">Life-th
e
tening inten
l injuies
- i
-level="1">Open
ounds
- i
-level="1">B
ck
nd neck injuies
- i
-level="1">B
oken bones
nd othopedic d
mge
The list goes on
nd on. Tuck
ccidents in Houston cn inflict just
boutny inju
y you cn im
gine,esulting not just in physic
l pin
nd disbility, but
lso sevee emotion
l suffeing fo
victimsnd thei
loved ones.nd th
t’s notll. T
uckccidents in Houston
lso tke
mssive economic toll on household fin
ncesnd loc
l businesses. TxDOT estimtes th
t motovehicle
ccidents (including tuck
ccidents) cuse $43 billion in economic losses to Tex
s citizens, businesses,nd gove
nment evey ye
. T
uckccident inju
ies simultneously inflict l
ge, unexpected expenses
hile depiving victims of income. They f
equently pve
pth to fin
ncil
uin.Let’s Ex
mine Houston T
uckccident C
uses, Shll
e?<h2>
e knoth
t tuck
ccidents in Houston hppen
lot,nd th
t they’e costly to citizens, businesses,
nd oucommunity
t lge. So,h
t cn
e do todd
ess them? The fist step is to unde
stnd ho
they hppen. Once
gin,
e tun to C
IS dt
to help us undest
ndh
te’
e deling
ith. Peh
ps unsup
isingly, evieof the c
uses cited foHouston t
uckccidents in
ecent ye
suggests th
t the vst m
joity of them involve some kind of hum
n eo.
lot of tht e
o
hppens in the ope
tion of
tuck itself, o
in the opetion of othevehicles th
t she theo
dith t
ucks. Some involve eos e
lie
on in the chin of events th
t led to
csh—mistkes m
de by mechnics, m
nufctu
es,
nd othes.
He
e e some notble c
uses of Houston tuck c
shes th
te found in the C
IS dt
(nd
feth
te didn’t, but th
te kno
fom expe
ience pob
bly plyed
ole!)
Uns fe L
ne Ch
nges, Deptues,
nd Meges
T
ucks e the pove
bil 800-pound go
ills of the open
od. They go
hee they
nt to go,
nd eveyone else h
s to mke
oom if they cn.
On
co
ded Houston highy, hoeve
, thee just isn’t
hole lot of
oom to spe fony vehicle, much lessbig t
uck.t
uck tht uns
fely chnges l
nes, difts out of its l
ne, ome
ges intol
ne in hevy t
ffic on I-610
nd othee
o
dsisks c
usingn
ccident byunning sm
llevehicles off the
od, fo
cing them to engge in d
ngeous ev
sive mneuve
s tht c
use cshes, oeven fl
t-outunning ove
them.hy do t
uckes stee
theit
ucks into dnge
? Sometimes, they simply cn’t
void it, suchs
henme
ge lne ends
nd they hve no choice but to muscle thei
y intot
vel l
ne. But, most of the time they csh theit
ucks due to some kind of eo, like f
iling to execise situ
tionl
eness, losing t
ck of sm
llevehicles in thei
blind spots, o<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comd
unk-tuck-d
ives-ext
emely-dnge
ous“>d
ivinghile imp
ied
> by dugs,
lcohol, o<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comhouston-t
uck-dive
-ftigue/”>f
tigue<>.Imp
ope
Tuns
nd Unsfe B
cking<h3>
It’s not just t
o
dys, hoeve
, tht le
d to cshes. Theid
ives
lso need to knoho
to mneuve
t
uck inel
tively tight spces. T
uckccidents h
ppenhen d
ives f
il to steethei
igs in
mnne
tht t
kes ig’s unieldy size into
ccount. Leftnd
ight tuns
t intesections, fo
exmple, pose
chllenge fo
tuck d
ives.
tuck needs
ide be
thhen executing
tun. T
ke the tun too sh
ply
nd you’ll cut the cone
,olling ove
dj
cent tffic lnes o
cu
b, sidelk, of
ont ln. Tke it too
idet
busy intesection,
nd you might just cush
smlle
vehicle. The sme goes fo
bcking up. Unless they h
veb
ckup cme
inst
lled in theit
ucks (most don’t), tucke
s fly blindhen they d
ive ineve
se. They hve only thei
side mios to guide them,
nd even then, those mios le
ve lge blind spots. Bck up uns
felynd you c
n collideith
fixed object,vehicle, o
evenpe
son.Uns
fe Speeds
If you’ve eve
encounteed
tuck on
lonely stetch of I-10 in
est Texs, you kno
just hof
stbig
ig cn go
hen it hs
oom toun. It’s quite sc
y to sh
e
o
dith
lge tuck t
veling 70 miles pe
houo
moe.
t tht speed, the t
uck needs hundeds of y
ds to come to
contolled, eme
gency stop,nd th
t distnce st
etches if moning de
oecent
in sho
eh
s mde the
od su
fce slick. De
dlye
-end collisions c
n hppen
hent
uck movingt full-speed on
highy encountes
sudden slodo
n oobst
clend it c
nnot stop in time tovoid collision.
But it’s not just t
ucks tvelingt high speeds th
tisk getting into c
shes in Houston.
s mny of us kno
fisth
nd, highy speed oncongested st
etch of I-610 might be just 40 MPH oso. Even
t tht slo
ep
ce, hoeve
,t
uck still needs f moe dist
nce thn
pssenge
vehicle to slodo
n tovoid
nccident.
T
ucks hve p
ticul
difficulty n
vigting sh
p high
y cu
vesnd on-
nd-off mpst
nything higheth
nsn
il’s pce. T
ucks tend to hve
high centeof g
vity, m
king them susceptible toolling ove
if theid
ives ente
cu
ve too fst.
T uck Equipment Defects
nd F
ilues
T
ucks cy tons (lite
lly!) of c
go ove
vst dist
nces. They tke
temendous be
ting. Theiequipment needs
outine minten
ncend c
e,
nd one
snd ope
to
s need to keep theifleet in s
fe condition.t
uck be
kdon
t just the ong moment cn end up c
usingc
sh on
Houstono
d! Components of tucks th
t my suffe
fom d
ngeous defects o
excessivee
–
nd-te include:- -level=”1″><
h
ef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comt
uck-tie-blo
out-cuses/”>Ti
es<><li>
- i
-level="1">T
uck-t
ile
couplingsnd hyd
ulics
- i
-level="1">Bkes<
li>
- i
-level="1">Mio
s, c
mes,nd othe
sfety systems
- i
-level="1">Lo
d tie-do
nsnd st
bilizes
Unfo
tuntely, t
ucknd t
ile
minten
nce sometimesmounts to
lep of f
ith. Tucks m
de, oned,
nd opeted by one goup of comp
nies hook upith t
ile
snd c
go m
de, oned,
nd opeted by othes. If just one p
ty f
ils to do theip
t in designing, building,
nd mint
ining sfe equipment,
n entie
ig’s sfety
ndeli
bility cn go out the
indo, putting not just the t
ucke, but the Houston d
iving public,t
isk fo csh.T
ucke
Ftigue
nt to he
something sc
y?
compehensive su
vey of long-hul t
uck dive
s conducted by the <h
ef="https:/
.fmcs.dot.gov/
dvisoy-committees/m
b2006-t
uck-dive
-ftigue-m
ngement-su
vey" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">Fedel MotoC
ieS
fetydminist
tion (FMCS
)<> hile bck found th
t most tuck d
ives h
ve felt ftigued
hile diving,
nd tht ne
ly t
o-thids of them h
d felt theye
e in dnge
of flling
sleept the
heel! Tht’s not
ll.- -level=”1″>
bout one in five t
ucke
s felt ftigued on most o
evey t
ip they dove.
- i
-level="1">12.5% of t
ucke
sepo
ted often hving he
vy eyelidshen they d
ovend 52.1% sometimes h
d hevy eyelids.
- i
-level="1">11.1% often felt d
o
syhile d
iving,nd 53.9% sometimes felt d
osy.
- i
-level="1">8.4% often st
uggled to be
let
hile diving,
nd 43.4% sometimes stuggled.
- i
-level="1">6.4% often h
d difficulty st
yingke,
nd 37.9% sometimes hd difficulty.
These findings
ee
bouts unsu
pising
s theye
e disconceting. T
uckes,
sg
oup,o
k long, iegul hous, often d
iving lte
t nightnd e
ly in the mo
ningshen thei
bodies tell them they should besleep. T
uck dive
slso h
veel
tively poohe
lth (obesity ism
jop
oblem)nd f
equently goithout he
lth insunce (hich me
ns theihe
lth poblems go l
gely un
ddessed.) T
uckehe
lthffects the qu
litynd qu
ntity of sleep. Hlf of the study’s subjects
epoted getting insufficient sleep befo
e diving thei
uns.
F
tigue is extemely d
ngeous
nd cn e
sily led to
tuck
ccident in Houston. In fct, <
hef=”https://
.sleepfoundtion.o
gd
osy-d
ivingd
osy-d
iving-vs-dunk-d
iving" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">studies<> hve found th
t going 18 hous
ithout sleep impi
s youd
iving skillsbout the s
mes h
vingblood
lcohol content (BC) of 0.05% (
hichould be
bove the legl limit fo
tuck d
ives),
nd tht 24 hou
s of sleeplessness hits dive
s the sme
s being leglly intoxic
ted! <h
ef="https:/
.fmcs.dot.gov/
egultions/hou
s-sevice/summ
y-hou
s-sevice-
egultions” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Fede
l
>nd <
hef=”https://tex
eg.sos.stte.tx.us/public/
edt
c$ext.TcP
ge?sl=&
mp;pp=9&
mp;p_di=&
mp;p_loc=&
mp;p_tloc=∓p_ploc=&
mp;pg=1∓p_t
c=∓ti=37&
mp;pt=1∓ch=4&
mp;l=12″ t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>st
te<> hous-of-se
viceegul
tions tget tucke
ftigue by setting m
ximum peiods
tucke
cn spend behind the
heelt v
ious inte
vls. Those
egultions, ho
eve,
e only
Bnd-
id onbullet hole. T
uckes continue to d
ive do
synd,
hen they do, they impeil themselves
nd othes on the
od.
No M tte
the C
use ofHouston T
uckccident, Victims H
veights
Fo
f
ee consulttion to <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.com10-questions-t
uck-ccident-l
ye
“>le
n
bout youightsfte
suffeing inju
ies<> inHouston-
e
tuck
ccident, contct
skilled <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comse
viceshouston-t
uck-ccident-l
ye
“>t
uckccident inju
y lye> tod
y.