December 24th, 2010 | 
Author: DALLAS, TX – A section of a highway was closed for hours Friday, December 3, after a bizarre truck accident in Dallas County. Three people were injured in the chain reaction collision which was set off by a pickup truck illegally entering Interstate 30 off a frontage road in the city of Dallas. The truck accident occurred in the north central section of the state, about 190 miles west of Shreveport, Louisiana and about 94 miles south of Durant, Oklahoma.
Late Friday morning 51 year old truck driver John Johnson was on westbound Interstate 30, driving a semi trailer through Dallas County, TX. The logo on the trailer section of the semi was for Landstar, Inc., a global transportation company based out of Jacksonville, Florida. The cargo and destination of the driver at the time of the truck accident is not known.
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At about 11:00 a.m. Friday morning the tractor trailer had reached the east side of the city of Dallas, TX. The truck accident happened as Mr. Johnson drove the 18 wheeler near the juncture with East Grand Avenue. The tractor trailer was in the right lane when a white pickup truck suddenly entered the interstate from the embankment at the side of the highway, directly in the path of the westbound semi trailer.
The semi driver was unable to avoid hitting the pickup truck and the two vehicles collided. The driver of the 18 wheeler would later tell reporters that it looked like the white pickup truck “Was coming through my windshield”. The force of the truck accident caused the semi trailer to go into a spin and it crossed over the westbound lanes before crashing into a median divider running alongside the center of the interstate.
The tractor trailer was blocking several traffic lanes and a westbound DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) paratransit bus did not have enough time to stop and slammed into the crashed semi. At some point during the chain reaction truck accident the semi was propelled forward where it crashed into an overhead sign.
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Dallas emergency first responders descended on the multi vehicle crash site. Two people in the DART bus were hurt in the truck accident. They were treated at the site and then transported to a local hospital where they are expected to recover from non life threatening injuries. The driver and a third passenger on the DART bus, which is used to transport citizens with mobility problems, were not injured in the collision.
The driver of the semi trailer, Mr. Johnson, received only minor scratches in the truck accident.
The unidentified male driver of the white pickup which set off the chain reaction crash was seriously hurt in the truck accident. He was transported to Baylor University Medical Center and was listed in critical condition.
At least one of the semi’s gas tanks was damaged in the two collisions and an unknown amount of diesel fuel leaked out onto the interstate. A Haz-Mat team was called in to the truck accident site and was working to clean the roadway and keep the fuel spill contained.
Police shut down the westbound lanes of I-30 for most of the day Friday while highway crews worked to remove the disabled vehicles from the traffic lanes. The work teams would also have to repair the overhead sign that the semi slammed into during the truck accident and the guardrail damaged by the pickup truck.
According to officials with the Texas Department of Transportation the site would be cleared and open for traffic at about 7:00 p.m. Friday night, about 8 hours after the truck accident.
Investigators reconstructing the crash said that it appears the driver of the pickup was at the McDonald’s on East Grand Ave. just moments before the truck accident. After leaving the restaurant he was driving on the frontage road when he decided to enter the interstate. Instead of using the entrance ramp the driver of the pickup went up the embankment and over the guardrail of I-30. The pickup landed right in front of the westbound semi trailer. Authorities have not indicated whether they suspect drugs or alcohol as factors in the collision.
The unidentified driver of the pickup is expected to face multiple citations once authorities complete their investigation of the truck accident.
Gordon Elias & Seely, LLP recommend that if you know anyone who has been injured or killed as the result of a commercial truck accident involving a semi truck, 18 wheeler, big rig, tractor trailer or bus, tell them to immediately contact a qualified truck accident lawyer for advice. Gordon, Elias & Seely LLP are licensed in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Washington, DC and have informal relationships with other truck accident lawyers. Visit our Dallas truck accident lawyer page or call 800.773.6770.
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