Texas highway construction zones present sudden traffic constriction zones that can take drivers by surprise, especially at night, and lead to serious or fatal accidents. This is what appears to have occurred early Friday morning when Van Ty Ho from Houston lost control of an 18-wheeler on Highway 77.
The tractor-trailer truck veered off the highway, hit a guardrail, became airborne, and dived over the side of the overpass, landing on another truck parked below. Mr. Ho’s truck went up in flames, leading to his tragic death. The Highway 77 truck accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC convey their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Van Ty Ho.
The Texas DPS indicated that the cause of the fatal 18-wheeler crash on Highway 77 might have been driver fatigue, a frequent problem among long-haul truck drivers. Federal rules regulating truckers’ required rest periods are designed to help prevent truck driver fatigue. Trucking companies that flout those rules endanger the lives of their drivers and others.
The accident near Corpus Christi occurred where the lanes narrow due to a work zone. Sudden constriction of lanes from construction can present a particular hazard to fatigued drivers, especially in nighttime conditions where the driver may not spot the lane narrowing until the last moment.
Statistics paint a grim picture of construction zone crashes. Our Highway 77 truck accident attorneys remark that almost 85% of those who die in accidents in construction zones are the drivers of the vehicles passing through the roadway constrictions. 17,266 wrecks happened last year in TxDOT work zones alone. Those crashes caused more than 110 deaths and over 3,500 serious injuries. Data from the U.S. FMCSA, the agency that oversees 18-wheeler safety, shows that semi trucks were involved in 132 fatal wrecks in work zones in 2012. Click the link to learn more about construction zone accidents and safety.