JoCo company settles suit after deadly I-435 crash. But first it bought safer trucks
He also updated his fleet of tractor trailers to include the latest safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking.
"We're trying to make sure things like that don't happen again," Siddiqui said. "Safety should come first."
Fatal truck wrecks are spiking this decade, killing 4,761 people in
Yet most semis on the road today do not have the latest safety equipment, nor does the government require them to, The Star reported last month after a months-long investigation of fatal crashes involving large trucks.
Twelve of the
None of them did before.
Siddiqui said he made that considerable investment in safety improvements -- a new semi can run
In the settlement, neither DeFranco nor Alpha admitted liability.
The chain-reaction crash occurred during the evening rush hour on
Due to road construction work, the eastbound lanes of
Another vehicle that pulled up alongside the crash caught fire and was destroyed along with both trucks and Wilson's
In addition to the Wilsons' court settlement, the company and its insurer, Berskshire Hathaway, paid damage claims filed by the owners of those other vehicles. In all, those payouts and the Wlsons' claim topped
Studies have shown that more than 70 percent of rear-end truck crashes could be prevented, while damage could be mitigated in the other 30 percent, if all semi trucks on the road had collision avoidance systems with automatic emergency braking.
However, only a small percentage of trucks have that safety equipment. Among
Similarly, the
But the safety administration is still studying the technology and has issued no regulations or standards for manufacturers to follow.
Automakers voluntarily agreed to make automatic braking standard on nearly all passenger vehicles by 2022. Makers of large trucks have not followed that example and automatic emergency braking remains optional.
After the crash that killed Wilson, Siddiqui said he researched whether he could retrofit his then-existing fleet of trucks with after-market collision avoidance technology. When he learned that couldn't be done, he ordered new trucks with the technology installed.
That crash was one of two fiery truck wrecks involving multiple vehicles on
The
Thompson was unavailable for comment Friday.
That crash, too, might have been mitigated had the semi operated by
The Highway Patrol investigation of that wreck is ongoing.
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