One woman is dead and others are injured in a crash near Lake View, Iowa.
The crash happened on Christmas Eve morning on Highway 175 at about 8:24 a.m. According to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, a semi-tractor trailer traveling westbound on Highway 175 tried to pass a car and crashed head-on with a pickup truck traveling eastbound on Hwy. 175. A car that had been traveling behind the pickup then rear-ended it.
Tragically, a passenger in the pickup truck died. Five others were injured, including the driver of the pickup, the driver of the car and a passenger in the car, and the driver of the truck and a passenger.
Two of the 5 people injured were in critical condition.
The fog was so thick that the visibility was near zero, according to authorities.
Commercial truck drivers have to use extra care to prevent accidents. One aspect of this is driving a safe speed for the road conditions.
Driving too fast for conditions is defined as traveling at a speed that is greater than a reasonable standard for safe driving. Examples of conditions where drivers may find themselves driving too fast include reduced visibility because of fog (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
When visibility is bad, like in heavy fog, there is no excuse for an 80,000 pound semitrailer to try pass a car. The driver may have a deadline, but the safety and well being of others on the road is vastly more important. These drivers need to consider if they would want their wives, husbands or children put at risk in a similar way. Today, a family is grieving and 5 people are suffering. More needs to be done to prevent these kinds of senseless crashes. One thing that can immediately be done is to require companies to provide additional training for commercial vehicle operators.