By 3:05 p.m., e.d.t., on June 20, 1977, traffic had backed up and stopped in the right lane of I-285, eastbound, just south of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, and west of a construction zone which was located on connecting I-75 southbound. An eastbound Cates Trucking, Inc., tractor-semitrailer combination vehicle approached the standing traffic at between 35 and 45 mph and collided with and overrode the last automobile in the queue. The automobile was pushed into the vehicle ahead, and two other vehicles to its front were subsequently involved. No fire ensued. Four persons in the automobile were killed, and one was hospitalized; a second driver received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the truckdriver to maintain the proper level of attention to the driving task and perceive the standing vehicles on the roadway and stop his vehicle short. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the Georgia Department of Transportation to implement existing standards and guidelines for controlling traffic through construction zones, which permitted a 3 1/2-mile backup of slow moving and stopping traffic.


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    Title :

    Highway Accident Report Cates Trucking, Inc., Tractor-Semitrailer/Multiple-Vehicle Collision and Override, I-285, Atlanta, Georgia, June 20, 1977


    Publication date :

    1978


    Size :

    23 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English