Barriers on interstate requires truck drivers’ close attention

On a portion of Interstate 35 north of San Antonio, a back-to-back pair of traffic accidents has the local fire chief criticizing semi truck drivers for not being careful enough on that stretch of freeway.

Both crashes happened in Salado, and took place just over an hour apart. Around 11 p.m. on Apr. 12, a driver lost control and hit a light pole. As firefighters from the Salado Volunteer Fire Department were finishing up with that accident scene, they got a call of another wreck nearby.

A semi had jackknifed and hit some concrete barriers, knocking the barriers into the opposite side of I-35, though they did not block traffic.

An article by the Temple Daily Telegram does not mention any injuries, which is fortunate. An out-of-control semi can seriously harm occupants of other vehicles it hits. The fact that the truck crash occurred after midnight likely helped keep this incident from becoming a tragedy for some Texas family.

The Salado fire chief noted that the barriers on that section of I-35 are quite close to the white line, often within six-12 inches. With so little room for error, a careless mistake by a trucker is very likely to lead to a crash. The chief particularly pointed out instances of truckers passing each other at narrow points in the freeway as putting everyone at serious risk of harm.

Most truck drivers pay close attention and take their obligations to the people in the vehicles around them seriously. But when truckers or their employers do not live up to their legal duty of due care, the resulting crash can cause terrible injuries.