A station wagon runs a red light causing a brutal collision with a truck driver's trailer. Was this accident preventable?
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The fender-bender occurred about 9 a.m. at an intersection in downtown Indianapolis. At the time, the sky was bright blue and the surface of two-land West 86th St – occupied by John Doe’s tractor – was bone dry.
As the traffic light turned green, Doe nosed his tractor trailer into the intersection without hesitation. Immediately, a tremendous BANG indicated something had just ruined his day. A glance at the West Coast mirror showed that a somewhat compressed car had molded itself around his trailer’s tandem.
A brown station wagon had been proceeding toward the intersection at an estimated speed of 35 mph when it suddenly dawned on the driver that the traffic signal ahead was bright red. A panic stop proved insufficient to save the day as the car slid into the intersection and struck Doe’s tractor.Doe’s company forwarded the accident details to the National Safety Council’s Accident Review Committee for a final decision.
NSC’s judgement was “non-preventable.” Even if Doe had dragged his heels in moving into the intersection, his rig would have suffered from the kamikaze attack of the station wagon driver.
