Last March, we posted the sad, sad story of a van filled with happy family and friends traveling to a wedding, who were on the road only 15 minutes when a tractor-trailer veered over the median and crashed into them. 11 of the van passengers, and the big rig truck driver, were killed.
The collision was head-on, truck and van — and the cable barriers dividing the two sides of highway were of no help whatsover, according to eyewitnesses.
This week, it was revealed that the federal government ordered the trucking company responsible for that tractor-trailer truck, Hester, Inc. of Fayetteville, Alabama, to be shut down.
The actual order, coming down from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, actually dates back to June 2010, but the public only became aware of the ruling after a Freedom of Information Act request allowed it to be release to the public at large.
Apparently, truck driver fatigue may have been a factor in the Kentucky crash (which happened at 5:30 am), as the FMCSA Order apparently based the Hester closing on a failure to fix certain violations, among them Hester’s drivers being allowed on the roads longer than the HOS limits.
To view a photograph of the tragic crash site itself and see for yourself the tremendous power of a big rig when it collides with a minivan, click here.
