"Tractor-trailer driver admits to using heroin, marijuana before crash"

Sometimes there are posts that need no introduction or explanation of the hazard described in the news media story. Here it is:

A tractor-trailer driver involved in a crash in Pennsylvania, USA admitted to police that he used heroin and marijuana prior to the crash, according to the criminal complaint.

The truck driver is facing DUI, reckless endangerment and other charges.

The accident was reported about 8 a.m. Monday, November 12 on Route 22 in Burrell Township. The truck, which was hauling aluminium scrapings, overturned and hit six other vehicles.

“The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed coming down all the way from Penn View Mountain,” said a spokesperson of Blairsville Fire Department.

Police said the truck driver failed to stop for a red light and crossed over into the intersection. The truck started to sway and then tipped over.

The driver of a red Toyota pickup truck was taken to a hospital but did not suffer any broken bones. No other injuries were reported. According to a criminal complaint, when police spoke to the truck driver at the scene, his voice was low and raspy and his pupils were constricted.

He told police he had been using heroin and marijuana before the crash, the complaint said. Police found suspected marijuana and a smoking pipe in the truck driver’s vehicle.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is extremely grateful that no one was killed in this incident. We hope the car driver that was taken to the hospital recovers fully from his injuries. By happenstance we have driven this same road several times and the rate of speed this truck must have been going must have been unbelievable.

The use of outside trucking companies throughout our industry is commonplace. The question we ask the reader is “Does your plant have a policy to refuse a to load/unload a trucker if they appear to be under the influence.?”