A fiery six-vehicle crash involving a semi-truck before 6 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, on Interstate Highway 580 in Pleasanton, California took the life of the driver of a BMW. A big-rig slammed into the BMW which caught fire. The driver, a 43-year old man from Brentwood, was trapped inside and died. Although other vehicles also caught fire in the chain reaction accident, no other drivers or occupants were seriously injured.
The fatal Highway 580 fatal crash highlights the vulnerability of people traveling in cars when a large truck accident occurs. Each year nearly 2,500 persons in cars drivers and passengers die in accidents across America involving a large truck.
As explained by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “trucks often weigh 20-30 times as much as passenger cars and are taller with greater ground clearance, which can result in smaller vehicles underriding trucks in crashes.”