Tires break free from 18-wheeler killing New Orleans college student

[DrDoug]

Who knew that stopping at a rest stop could lead to being mowed down by a 1,000 pound set of semi wheels just as you are getting in to your car? Wow, talk about random. It sounds like some scene in a movie instead of real life.

 

[dawp]

those wheels just don't break off, there is likely poor maintenance involved and the trucking company is going to pay dearly.

 

[sdifox]

Wtf are there no mandated regular inspections?

 

[DrDoug]

Wtf are there no mandated regular inspections?

For most truckers and the companies they work for, if it moves then that's good enough. I rode with a trucker from Ohio to Oregon back in the early 80's and he had a guide he used to avoid checkpoints and weigh stations.

 

[Thebobo]

...Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites and wine....

 

[UglyCasanova]

Saw this the other day, crazy.

 

[soulcougher73]

Final Destination movie scene?

 

[Moonbeam]

I thought this was a rather common phenomenon.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

I thought this was a rather common phenomenon.

Happens up here on the 401 all the time. It got so bad they had to do massive inspection blitzes for years to try and reign it in.

 

[thilanliyan]

Happens up here on the 401 all the time. It got so bad they had to do massive inspection blitzes for years to try and reign it in.

Yep I remember that. There was a whole bunch of them and then they cracked down. Don't hear much about it happening these days.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Yep I remember that. There was a whole bunch of them and then they cracked down. Don't hear much about it happening these days.

Started happening more often again the last two years. About 3-5 years after that enforcement blitz slowed down. There's been a couple fatalities recently.

 

[thilanliyan]

Started happening more often again the last two years. About 3-5 years after that enforcement blitz slowed down. There's been a couple fatalities recently.

Ah okay, didn't know that. Should watch the news more I guess lol.

 

[UglyCasanova]

What is it they’re enforcing?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

What is it they’re enforcing?

Proper vehicle inspection and maintenance. The 401 here in Ontario is the busiest highway in North America and the truck traffic on it is incredibly heavy as a major East-West route for pboth the US and Canada. With so many trucks the number of substandard/non road worthy trucks is quite high which was the cause of all the issues.

 

[dainthomas]

Horrible freak accident.

I will pass a truck as quickly as possible just for reasons like this. I saw a Mythbusters years ago where they shot a piece of truck tire at a car and it went right through the windshield and decapitated the test dummy.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Horrible freak accident.

I will pass a truck as quickly as possible just for reasons like this. I saw a Mythbusters years ago where they shot a piece of truck tire at a car and it went right through the windshield and decapitated the test dummy.

Sadly the fatalities usually occur in the oncoming lane. Not the lane the truck is in.

 

[Jhhnn]

Sadly the fatalities usually occur in the oncoming lane. Not the lane the truck is in.

The closing velocity between lost wheels & oncoming traffic can be quite high, over 100mph. The fact that the wheels stayed together on the hub indicates that they came off the spindle as an assembly. It's held on the spindle by a big nut with a keeper, a jam nut, or both. It's all right hand threads, so assemblies on the left side tend to loosen the nut & come off if the keeper breaks or is improperly installed. Like this-

https://www.skf.com/binary/107-292193/0901d196805ecdd2-1702-0020---17000-w_tcm_12-292193.png

It's also possible that the spindle broke, if unlikely.

 

[DrunkenSano]

A few years ago I was driving up from my company's Chemical plant up to Houston, on 59 and a semi in the right lane's rear left tire blew out. The whole thing came off and flew up, just missing my rental by inches. Freak accidents happens all the time, you never know when.

 

[balloonshark]

I was at a dirt track watching a race from the pits when a tire and axle bounched up into the main grandstands. Luckily nobody was killed. It was surreal watching it happen in real time.

Several videos on youtube showing people getting hit with tires or tires just flying around hitting stuff if you're interested.