Truck Carrying 80,000 Pounds of Corn Crashes, Killing One
Photo: Michigan State Police
News that a semi-truck rolled over and spilled 80,000 pounds of corn all over the road had the potential to be a somewhat humorous story, but unfortunately, this spill is tragic. Michigan’s MLive reports that the driver of the truck lost control, killing one and hospitalizing another.
The crash happened Saturday afternoon when the driver of the semi-truck reportedly tried to pass a car that had stopped to turn. The semi driver drove onto the shoulder to get around the car, hit the car they were trying to pass, and lost control of their 40-ton vehicle. They then crossed into the oncoming lane and hit an oncoming SUV head-on.
There’s no word on what happened to the semi-truck driver, but the driver of the car they hit was pronounced dead at the scene. Their passenger survived but was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries.
In the U.S., road deaths sadly continue to rise even though other countries are getting safer. As we previously reported, “In 1979, the risk of dying in a car crash in the U.S. was more or less in line with other developed nations. Fast forward to 2021, and road deaths in the U.S. were at a 16-year high. Meanwhile, Japan and Norway’s numbers were the lowest they’d been since the 1940s.”
Unfortunately, preventing crashes like this one is likely more difficult than simply adding traffic-calming measures, going after people who use cell phones while driving, and improving pedestrian infrastructure. It’s hard to stop drivers from making reckless decisions. People get tired and make mistakes. People get aggressive when they’re in a hurry. And there’s no way to guarantee they won’t do that. But until the U.S. actually gets serious about road safety, it seems like we’re only going to continue to see people keep losing their lives unnecessarily.
