Hazmat Safety
A catastrophe waiting to happen?
Within the past several months, serious accidents involving
commercial
trucks, some carrying hazardous materials, have many people
concerned. Our
city hosts a number of commercial truck routes, including Boston
Avenue,
Salem Street, and Mystic Avenue.
These thoroughfares are also home to many of our residents, as well
as those
whose homes abut these truck routes. Innumerable business operations
also
line these roads. In some instances, gas station sit in close
proximity to
each other on the same routes. Imagine, if you will, a tanker truck
exceeding the speed limit-as many commercial truckers do-rolling
over and
bursting into flames on Salem Street at Garfield Avenue or Otis
Street,
where two gas station sit across the street from each other. The
consequences in terms of human lives and property damage are
unthinkable.
Admittedly, this is a worst-case scenario, but, bear in mind, it
could
happen here.
Here are some recent facts:
On May 8, in Allston, a delivery truck struck eight parked vehicles
and
burst into flames, injuring two and shoving a car onto the MBTA
tracks. The
driver, whose license had been suspended twice for traffic
violations, was
charged with driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an
accident.
On April 29, a 72-year-old woman was seriously injured after her car
hit a
tanker truck on near Sweetser Circle in Everett, the same location
as a
tragic December 5 crash. Traffic was shut down for hours. Police are
investigating driver negligence.
On March 28, on Interstate 91 near Chicopee, a tanker swerving to
avoid a
car rolled over and blew up, setting aflame its 1,000 gallons of
gasoline.
The truck was from the same company involved in the December 5
episode.
Police are looking at driver negligence.
On December 5, a tanker truck rolled over in Sweetser Circle in
Everett.
Leaking gasoline ignited two houses. Scores of vehicles were lost.
Residents
(including those in a nursing home) were evacuated. Despite a
history of
speeding convictions and license suspensions, the driver evaded
criminal
charges.
The sobering reality of the these incidents may well give you pause,
as it
has our legislators, who have drafted bills to address the problem.
Senate bill 2522 would allow municipalities to prohibit tankers
carrying
explosive and inflammable materials from traveling through rotaries
(pending
approval from the state highway department).
Senate bill 2523 calls for the owner or operator of any vehicle that
transports hazardous materials to be liable for any damage to people
or
property resulting from commercial transportation of explosive and
inflammable materials. This bill emphasizes prevention through
safety
standards-for example, making sure the trucks are driiven by people
with
safe driving records.
Under Senate bill 2563, penalties would jump from $200 to $500 for
commercial vehicles exceeding the posted weight limit on bridges.
Also, any
vehicles exceeding weight limits in transport of hazardous materials
would
be given a moving violation (a new category, valuable in calculating
autoe
insurance premiums) and would establish a penalty for drivers
convicted of
speeding while transporting explosive and inflammable materials.
Senate bill 2558 would prohibit commercial truck companies from
engaging in
conduct encouraging speeding and unsafe driving, including paying
drivers
based on the weight of cargo or the number of deliveries made or
penalizing
them for not accepting compensation based on the size of a load or
number of
deliveries made.
I urge you to support your legislators in their efforts to make
these bills
into law. Thanks to the Internet, you can do so easily on
Massachusetts'
official website. To find the status of a bill, go to
www.mass.gov/legis/ltsform.htm. To find the full text of a bill,
go to
www.mass.gov/legis/billsrch.htm
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