Big Rig Truck Accident

I’m going to post today the type of blog post I hate most: “There was an accident today on….” But this one is different because of the scope of the tragedy. CNN reports that ten people were killed in a single truck accident in Kentucky.

The truck apparently went across the median on Interstate 65 in Hart County and hit an 18 passenger van, reportedly a family of Mennonites traveling to a wedding in Iowa.

Just an unbelievable tragedy that underscores in a meaningful way the risks we take when we get on the road with these big rig trucks. This case is a single tragedy but, statistically, over 11 people will die in other truck accidents today.

As a society, we have implicitly allowed these deaths by letting these big rig trucks operate on the road much the same way we do. Every other country in the world has also agreed to this tradeoff and, maybe, in the big economic picture, ease of delivery of goods actually saves lives. Who knows? But I do know that we should be tirelessly looking at ways to make our roads safer and to limit the number of truck accident deaths we have each year in this country. Because 5,300 people is just too many.