5th Wheel Demolished

[Mr. Dan]

A semi truck hit this camper trailer shortly after 5:30 this morning on SB US75 in Calera, OK. I'll give more details if I learn them.

[Paulie1138]

Sad ending for a trip. Hope and pray all are well.

[Mr. Dan]

I just read this post from the KXII-TV reporter who submitted the original post:
"Neither driver was hurt!"

[Paulie1138]

Good news to hear, sad way to put a damper on the trip.

[Witch Doctor]

Dan, Was the weather part of it. The whole mid west area is just being hammer for weeks now from Mexico to Canada. Glad to hear everyone walked away. A car and truck hit 3 cars in front of me in Florida City. They had to have two County Ambu. to carry the hurt away. The Road was blocked for a good hour. People drive crazy down here and all the streets and lanes are very narrow no place to pass so you just wait. People in a rush on Xmas eve. I'll stay in the CG on News years Eve. By the way Happy New Year to you and your family Stay Safe....

[onetonford]

Found this on their web site


QuoteCALERA, Okla. -- One lane of northbound U.S. Highway 69/75 was closed Tuesday morning, after a collision.
Around 5:40 a.m., a truck hauling a camper trailer left a trailer park on Gantry Lane.
The truck tried to turn left onto southbound U.S. Highway 75, when its trailer was struck by a semi truck headed northbound.
The semi then drove off the road.
Neither driver was injured, and both lanes of U.S. Highway 75 have reopened.):Quote

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

Dan, Was the weather part of it.
....
By the way Happy New Year to you and your family Stay Safe....

I didn't think it was weather related since I live about 40 miles from this wreck and all of our clouds disappeared during the night. Calera has 2-3 traffic signals on their highly used stretch of US75 and it seems like a semi hits traffic stopped at those lights 2-3x per month. I see from Oneton's link this wreck didn't happen at a light but at a pass-thru in the median... still a semi strike from the rear.

Thanks for the 'happy'! Here's to a happy and safe New Year to you and yours, too!


Sent (I think)

[aceinspp]

Glade to hear no folks injured. Somebody going to be minus a camper tho. Later RJD

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

Glade to hear no folks injured. Somebody going to be minus a camper tho. Later RJD

I bet the TV is also injured. Pretty solid hit.


Sent (I think)

[CaptnJohn]

Thankfully no one was hurt! I have a lot of respect for most semi drivers but this type of accident should never happen.

[Bama Rambler]

Looking at the map of the area, the RV would have pulled across the northbound lane to get into the southbound lane and probably pulled right in the path of the semi. Terrible accident, but thank goodness no one was hurt.

[Mr. Dan]

Yeah, there's not enough room in that crossover for a truck and the 5th wheel. It appears the trailer's back end might have been in the left nb lane when it was struck. The truck seen in the original picture is going southbound.
The mentioned intersection is in the upper right of this pic & the RV park is in lower left.



Sent (I think)

[GlenZ]

Very sad, hope everyone is ok!

[KFX450RXC]

If a semi is going to hit my RV, that's how I hope it would look like after the fact. All or nothing. Now go get a new one.

[RangeMaggotBob]

When my wife and I see things like this horrible accident, see all the flooding going on in our state, all those poor people losing their homes and belongings, we always say to each other how lucky we are; could have been us.

[itat]

Is there a long site line for the campground entrance? All I can say is, as a motorcyclist, when I see these collisions where a driver turns left into the path of an oncoming vehicle, I shudder. If there was good visibility and a long site line for the entrance, there's no excuse for the camper to have pulled out in front of the semi. If he couldn't see the semi, he'd never see a motorcycle and that kind of collision involving a motorcycle would almost certainly kill a motorcycle rider.

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

[Mr. Dan]

itat, my detective work has produced my conclusion that the TV driver pulled straight out of the campground with the intention of turning left on the other side of the median. I concluded the guy got in the median crossover (which isn't wide enough for his rig) and had to stop due to traffic coming from his right. While it was dawn and not particularly light, there is a long line-of-sight to the TV driver's left (to see the 18-wheeler) and to the right (to see southbound traffic). I think he got in the median, had no where to go, and the trucker hit the rear of his trailer from the trailer's flat left side (probably behind the axles) and blew up the trailer. The 18-wheeler went in the ditch. The TV driver might have seen the semi and even may have thought he could beat it. I suspect he didn't see traffic from the right which left him in harm's way. A motorcycle would have been in worse trouble.

[Toothpick]

So it would seem that the tv driver was at fault not the semi driver....

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by mele

So it would seem that the tv driver was at fault not the semi driver....

That's my guess... although I don't know how much time the semi driver had to change lanes and avoid the crash. I assume the local news station stopped following the crash because no one was hurt and because some of their stringers were on holiday.

[CaptnJohn]

^^^^As a fleet manager of trucks for many years I suspect you are correct. Cars most often can get away with median turns being small and more nimble. Company policy was/is 'left turns ONLY at a light'. Most insurance companies would also find the semi-driver partially at fault for not having his vehicle under control. No one hurt so cops may not have issued any citation. Possible each insurance company handles their own claim. Would be interesting how it finally is resolved and most of all be thankful no one was hurt!