Safety Guide | How to Avoid Potential Risks in Such Case?

An overpass in Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu province, collapsed and crushed three cars on Thursday (Oct 10) afternoon as reports. We are going to share some tips to avoid risks of such issue.

On Friday, local authorities confirmed that at least three people died and two others were injured in the incident.

The incident occurred at a section of the 312 national highway in Wuxi City at around 6:10 p.m. local time, which was a peak period of commute.

The overpass turned on one side and collapsed, with three cars passing the crossroad under the overpass were smashed since the overpass fell on them.

Some netizens said on Weibo and other social platforms the collapse was caused by an overloaded truck with rolled steel that had been plying on it.

A video of the scene shows that there were four coils of rolled steel and the weight of each coil is 28.535 tons, which means that the truck carried at least 114.14 tons of rolled steel, double of the maximum allowed weight.

Initial probe shows that the overpass collapsed due to four heavily overload trucks.

DANGEROUS TRUCKS

The latest bridge collapse renews worries over the overloaded trucks issue and the quality of Chinese infrastructure.

Heavily laden trucks may not be the only reason lead to the accident, but the problem is one of the most common causes of accidental death in the world.

For the past 12 years in China, it has been accused of causing over 17 bridge collapses.

On Aug 24, 2012, three were killed and five were injured after overpass collapses in Harbin, due to four overloaded trucks weighing more than 480 metric tons.

Although China has made efforts to manage the overloaded trucks by legislation, supervision and inspections, many truck owners overload their vehicles, knowing that if they don’t they will find it hard to make a profit.

Safety has to come first. It’s hard to remove the risks of these dangerous vehicles on the road, but we are going to tell you how to recognize and avoid dangerous trucks.

REMINDS

In most cases, a dumper (泥头车) can carry as much as a container can with the capacity of 50 to 60 steres. If it carries sand or cement, the total weight of vehicle and goods can reach up to 150 tons.

However, according to the Code for Design of the Municipal Bridge, the allowed load of first-class highway shall be less than 55 tons.

These heavily overloaded vehicles increase strain on the structure of bridges and may cause collapses.

Therefore, please enhance vigilance when you in face of a truck with the following features:

Multi-axle
Fully sealed container as tall as the truck front
Overloaded

What’s more, truck drivers often overspeed, increasing the risks of traffic accidents so it is necessary to pay more attention.

Try not to Drive on the Truck’s Right

Since the body of a heavy truck is much bigger and the blind area on the right side is larger than on the left side, the drive probably overlooks the blind area and not be aware of cars on his right.