Davis Law Group, P.S.

None injured in Kennewick semi accident

Story Highlights:
None injured in Kennewick accident
Semi truck collision caused by speeding



Date: July 21, 2011, 07/21/2011
Location: Kennewick, Benton County, Washington
Type: Semi truck accident
Outcome: None injured

No one was injured in a semi truck collision near Kennewick on Thursday.

Oscar Garcia was traveling north on Highway 240 when he merged onto Highway 395 and teh semi truck he was driving started to tip over. The truck narrowly avoided landing on top of another vehicle.

Washington State Patrol is investigating the accident and have cited the cause as speeding. No other information was released.

Basic Speeding Rules and Limits (RCW 46.61.400)
No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. In every event speed shall be so controlled as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care. Except when a special hazard exists that requires lower speed, the limits specified in this section or established as hereinafter authorized shall be maximum lawful speeds, and no person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed in excess of such maximum limits.
(a) Twenty-five miles per hour on city and town streets;
(b) Fifty miles per hour on county roads;
(c) Sixty miles per hour on state highways.

Washington State Speeding Accident Statistics

• Speeding-related fatalities have been increasing over the past ten years. The number of speed-related deaths from 1997 to 2001 was 237.8, while the average from 2002 to 2006 was 244, a 2.6% increase.
• In 2006, Washington experienced the second highest number of speed-related fatalities since 1997, with 253, second only to 2002’s number of 260. The speed-related fatality rate per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled has decreased slightly, from .47 in 1997 to .45 in 2006, a 4.3% decrease.
• 59.6% of all speed-related deaths occurred on rural roads- for vehicle-occupants alone the percentage was 62.3%. However, a larger majority of motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian deaths occurred on urban roads, with 57.5%.
• On average, from 1997 to 2006, the speed-related fatality rate per vehicle-miles-traveled on rural roads was 2-4 times higher than the respective urban road rate. Rural county roads experienced the largest percentage of speed-related deaths, with 30.7%, followed by rural highways, with 20%, and urban city streets, with 19.6%.

Seattle Motor Vehicle Accident Attorneys
Truck drivers are often required to deliver their cargo on a very strict schedule which can result in long hours on the road with little or no sleep. Exhausted or distracted truck drivers often cause major accidents. Poorly maintained trucks and those with unsecure loads are also causes of trucking accidents. Because semi trucks can weigh anywhere from 10,000 to 80,000 pounds, if one of these big rigs crashes into a passenger vehicle the accident victims may suffer serious or fatal injuries. Chris Davis an the semi truck accident attorneys at the Davis Law Group represent seriously injured victims, and the families of those fatally injured in tractor trailer accidents in Washington state.