Two Killed Changing Flat Tire On Highway In Massachusetts

August 1, 2009 5:25 p.m. EST

Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer

Webster, MA (AHN) - Two people were killed on early Saturday when a car struck them as they were trying to change a tire on the highway in Massachusetts, State Police said.

The officers from the Massachusetts State Police Department are investigating the accident.

The men were changing a flat tire at around 6:40 a.m. on a camper trailer attached to their truck, which was parked in the breakdown lane on Route 395 North in Webster, Massachusetts.

The identities of the men were not released pending notification of next of kin.

The police officials said that the 21-year-old driver of Lowell, Geoffrey K. Wahome, was seriously wounded as his car flipped after the crash.

He was taken by ambulance to UMass Medical Center for treatment, the officials added.

Comments:

While this is really a horrific accident for all involved. Our prayers and thoughts go out to everybody involved. Please go to www.dangeroustrailers.org for more on these types of accidents.

The questions must be asked... why did the tire get a flat? Were the right tires used for this camper? Was a ST rated tire used? Was the Camper sold with the right kind of tire? What inspections are required? Was the tire defective? The point is if the flat never happened then the accident would have never happened.

Time and Time again our evidence has shown that over 50% of these types of vehicles combination's "Passenger Cars That Tow Trailers" have defective taillights, tires, improper safety chains, no safety chains, no connections of safety chains, broken lights, wrong tires used, homemade trailers with improper hitches coupled with wrong size tow balls ect.

Please go here to view our press release... http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2339...

As our Government at every level from State To Federal has simply allowed the Utility Trailer industry to dictate regulations regarding this class of vehicle. I have the "Route 66 report" By J. Standard Baker done back in 1964 which found out that out of 735 accidents that was studied on Route 66...105 or one in 7 involved a Trailer.

Here is a quote from a LA Times article...
"Company battled U.S. safety rules"
U-Haul is mostly self-regulating when it comes to towing safety — thanks largely to an aggressive campaign it led against proposed federal rules in the late 1960s and early '70s.

The safety standards would have governed trailer hitches and couplings and would have set minimum requirements for informing customers of towing risks.


Company battled U.S. safety rules
June 24, 2007

» Discuss Article (494 Comments)

U-Haul is mostly self-regulating when it comes to towing safety — thanks largely to an aggressive campaign it led against proposed federal rules in the late 1960s and early '70s.

The safety standards would have governed trailer hitches and couplings and would have set minimum requirements for informing customers of towing risks.



* How the crash happened
How the crash happened
* Caring for Marissa
Photos: Caring for Marissa

*
Photos: Vulnerable to sway
*
Driving with rented risks
*
Making his point, at 80 mph

They were inspired in part by the so-called Route 66 study by traffic expert J. Stannard Baker, which found that cars towing trailers along the storied roadway had accidents at four times the rate of other passenger vehicles.

U-Haul and a coalition of manufacturers, dealers and rental firms fought the rules vigorously. In a three-volume report, U-Haul attacked the Baker study as deeply flawed and insisted that motorists actually had fewer accidents when pulling trailers. It said that by taking the study seriously, the government had done "an injustice to the American trailering public."

U-Haul said that if certain proposals were adopted — such as requiring special hitches for loads over 2,000 pounds — "the trailering and rental business would virtually be wiped out."

So you see.... The Utility Trailer Industry... Profit over Safety.

Same type of accident in TEXAS... Why is this happening?

An elderly Texas couple who had stopped to change a tire on their camper trailer were killed early yesterday morning along Interstate 395 when a passing sedan veered into the breakdown lane and struck them, state police said.

Robert G. Farner, 81, and Chloe K. Farner, 77, of Cottonwood Shores, Texas, were pronounced dead at the scene, state police said.

A 21-year-old Lowell man was driving a Nissan Altima in the northbound lanes of I-395, near the exit for Route 193, about 6:40 a.m. when his car plowed into the couple’s truck and camper trailer as they were working on the tire, state police said.

Geoffrey K. Wahome was seriously injured in the impact. His car flipped after the crash and came to rest in the breakdown lane on the northbound side of the highway, police said.

It wasn’t clear yesterday evening if alcohol or speed were a factor in the crash.

Mr. Wahome was taken by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center for treatment, police said. He was listed in serious condition yesterday evening.

The northbound lanes of the highway were closed for about an hour until one lane was reopened to traffic about 8:15 a.m., police said. The crash remains under investigation.