2010 — March 26, Vehicular, Tractor-Trailer hits Van, near Munfordville, KY — 11

— 11  Loller. “11 Killed When Tractor-Trailer, Van Crash in Ky.” AP, Mar 26, 2010.

— 11  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.

— 11  NTSB. Truck-Tractor Semitrailer Median Crossover Collision With 15-Passenger…

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB: “On Friday, March 26, 2010, about 5:14 a.m. central daylight time, near Munfordville, Kentucky, a 1999 Freightliner truck-tractor in combination with a 1998 Strick Corporation 53-foot-long van semitrailer, owned by the motor carrier Hester, Inc., and being driven by a 45-year-old male, was traveling south on Interstate 65 (I-65) near milepost 61.5. The truck departed the left lane of southbound I-65 at a shallow angle and entered the 60-foot-wide depressed earthen median between the southbound and northbound roadways. The truck traveled across the median and struck and overrode the high-tension, four-cable, alternating-post median barrier adjacent to the left shoulder of northbound I-65. It then crossed the left shoulder and entered the travel lanes of northbound I-65.

 

“At that time, a 2000 Dodge 15-passenger van, driven by a 41-year-old male and occupied by 11 passengers, was traveling northbound in the left lane. As the truck crossed in front of the van, its tractor was struck by the van. The van rotated clockwise and became engaged with the truck’s trailer; the two vehicles continued across both travel lanes and the right shoulder of northbound I-65. As the truck and van traveled across the right shoulder, the van separated from the truck, struck the cut rock wall beyond the shoulder, and rebounded back into the travel lanes, coming to rest in the left lane of northbound I-65, facing south. The truck’s tractor struck the cut rock wall, and the vehicle rolled onto its right side. As the truck came to rest across both northbound lanes, a fire ensued that destroyed the tractor and the sides and roof of the semitrailer.

 

“As a result of the accident and subsequent truck fire, the truck driver, the van driver, and nine van passengers died. Two child passengers in the van, who were using child restraints, sustained minor injuries.

 

“Probable Cause. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the probable cause of this accident was the truck driver’s failure to maintain control of the truck-tractor combination vehicle because he was distracted by use of his cellular telephone. Contributing to the severity of the accident were a median barrier that was not designed to safely contain or redirect the heavy vehicle and the lack of adequate guidance to the states in the form of high-performance median barrier warrants.” (NTSB. Truck-Tractor Semitrailer Median Crossover Collision With 15-Passenger Van 9-13-2011, Executive Summary.)

 

Loller: MUNFORDVILLE, Ky. — A tractor-trailer loaded with auto parts crossed a highway median Friday and slammed head-on into a van carrying a Mennonite family, killing 11 people before dawn on a hilly stretch of interstate. The dead included an engaged couple and several members of their family, whose house burned down in December. Two children in the van were the only survivors of the crash about 75 miles south of Louisville.

 

“After the collision, the truck smashed into a rock wall and burst into flames. The driver, the lone occupant, was also killed.

 

“A pastor for the family said they were traveling to a wedding in Iowa, and the engaged couple planned their own wedding for July….

 

“The crash was the deadliest single accident in Kentucky since a 1988 bus crash in which 27 people died when a church bus carrying a youth group was hit by a drunken driver.

 

“Kauffman said the family was from Burkesville, in southern Kentucky. Those killed were John and Sadie Esh and some of their children and grandchildren. The youngest victims were ages 1, 3 and 5.  Kauffman said John Esh was an assistant pastor at his church in Burkesville, about 55 miles southeast of the crash site. Also killed were a daughter-in-law of the Eshes and another daughter’s fiancé…. In the addition to John and Sadie Esh, the dead included their children Anna, Rose, Rachel and Leroy, authorities said. A cousin, Martha Byler of Altoona, Pa., said Leroy Esh’s wife, Naomi, was also killed, along with one of their adopted son, Jalen Esh. Also among the dead was Rachel’s fiancé, Joel Gingrich. The coroner said family friend Ashley Kramer was also killed….

 

“On the section of the highway where Friday’s crash occurred, crews installed cable barriers last year to prevent vehicles from crossing the median into oncoming lanes, said Ann Gibson, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.  But Trooper Charles Swiney of the Kentucky State Police said the barriers would not have stopped a fully loaded truck.” (Loller. “11 Killed When Tractor-Trailer, Van Crash in Ky.” AP, Mar 26, 2010.)

 

Sources

 

Loller, Travis. “11 Killed When Tractor-Trailer, Van Crash in Ky.” Associated Press, 3-26-2010.  At: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032601706.html

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Truck-Tractor Semitrailer Median Crossover Collision With 15-Passenger Van (HWY10MH011, NTSB No. HAR-1102). Washington, DC: NTSB, 9-13-2011. Accessed 6-14-2015 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/HAR1102.aspx