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Boston motorist seriously injured when dump-truck tire bounces into her car from other side of 128
By adamg on Sat, 03/12/2016 - 8:23pm
State Police report two cars were hit when the rear wheels fell off a dump truck going south near exit 26 in Waltham around 11:10 a.m.
A 27-year-old Boston woman driving north was taken to Lahey Clinic with serious injuries after one of the tires bounced over the median and into her windshield, State Police say.
State Police say the other tire struck a car heading south, but that neither the driver nor his passenger were injured.
The truck's driver, Valdir DosSantos of Lowell, was arrested on a charge of driving without a license. Exactly why the wheels came off his truck remains under investigation.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Yikes
I hope that driver recovers soon. Not very much you can do when something comes flying at you out of the blue!
How often do trucks get safety inspections? Seems like this has happened a couple of times recently.
I remember a few years ago
after coming back from a trip to California, which entailed the obligatory rental of a convertible, I was driving up Rt 3, not too far from Lowell as it happens, when one of those big 3+1 axle dump trucks blew one of its many tires and promptly began raining large tire fragments onto the roof of my (thankfully) non-convertible car.
This was also a bit closer to the market crash and recession, and I remembered seeing more shredded tires by the side of the highway than normal, meaning people were running their tires bald and having them disintegrate with more frequency.
Lots of safety-critical things on big moving vehicles that aren't worth endangering people's lives over.
Who lets someone drive a dump truck without a license?
A dump truck isn't something random people happen to own.
If the guy does it on the cheap
why ask questions? What could possibly go wrong?
If he was already employed or
If he was already employed or a contractor chances are whoever cut him a check had no idea his license was suspended
It may have nothing to do with the truck losing wheels
Other than, of course, the employer running on the cheap and cheaping out on maintenance and labor by paying undocumented or expired-license folks under the table.
Give the best driver a truck with bad lugs and the result will be the same.
You'd be surprised
Lots of "random people" own dump trucks: farmers, landscapers, contractors. There was one last year (also on Rte 128 south) that delivered a mattress into some unsuspecting person's windshield and killed them. AFAIK, that truck operator was never found.
'' 1999 Ford Super Duty dual
'' 1999 Ford Super Duty dual-rear wheel truck '' F350 or F450 . 14000 GVW Regular license just bigger than pickup truck
Off topic...
Am I the only one completely unable to view the site on mobile anymore, since maybe 1-2 months ago? I can browse the main page but when I click through to an article, I'm snapped back up to the top of the page every few seconds, making it impossible to read more than a few lines.
I'm guessing it's the scrolling Amazon ads at the top that are the culprit. Every few seconds they shift to a different item and snap me back up. I've tried with several different mobile browsers (granted I use a Windows phone, so no-one bothers to bug test for my platform) but it's beyond obnoxious at this point.
I'm pretty much done with UHub if this goes on. I read most of my news through mobile and only bring it up on the "big" screen when I'm desperately bored.
Grr, my apologies
I'll take a look.
Same problem
I also use a Windows phone.
Unfortunately, the phones are being phased out so we won't see any future support for these problems.
If you really love UHub, you would read it on your pc.
;)
I say we shine a spotlight on
I say we shine a spotlight on this unlicensed driver as we read about him in more detail to come. Let his photo and story speak for itself.
A friend of mine once lost a
A friend of mine once lost a tire on the highway. It was the result of him hand-tightening the bolts after changing the tire with the car still raised on the jack, and then forgetting to snug-tighten the bolts after lowering the car to the ground. That's probably the most common reason for runaway tires.
Impact Guns
There has been a problem in recent years with over-tightening bolts, causing them to shear in service. Somebody fails to set torque limits and wham - wheels come off!
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=107
Illegal immigrant?
that might explain the unlicensed dump truck driver.
Illegal alien, not illegal
Illegal alien, not illegal immigrant.
Correct term
Undocumented Alien.
LIke this guy?
I hear ...
He's a real card ... a GREEN card!
Touche, madam
.
double post
double post
Language is intended to communicate
not obfuscate. Having to 'read between the lines' of a police report splitting hairs of unlicensed vs suspended license or illegal immigrant vs undocumented alien is not language intended to communicate.
Personally, I find the term alien
offensive, whereas immigrant is a sign of respect; e.g. the first generation immigrant graduated from Harvard... We are all, in some way, immigrants. Only a few of us are aliens...
Illegal driver.
Illegal driver.
These are legal definitions.
These are legal definitions. An alien is a legal term for someone who is in a country without proper documentation.
An immigrant is here legally. And an immigrant who puts in the time and effort can become a citizen. What is really offensive is denigrate the effort of immigrants who have studied to become citizens by continuing to refer to them as immigrants.i.e we are all immigrants. Some immigrants wanting to achieve citizenship do so by, in many cases, risking their lives in the armed service. But in your parlance they will always remain immigrants.
Almost, but not quite
Look at the forms the next time you travel into the country from elsewhere.
Immigrants who are documented are referred to as "aliens", too. Resident Aliens.
Take a look at this IRS Document that spells it out: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc851.html
Illegal immigrant conveyed exactly
what was meant to be communicated without the need to refer to the IRS for clarity - what's the emoticon for ironic lol?
This killed someone recently in the same area
This just happened in January in the same general area and killed someone... what the hell is wrong with people that they don't keep their thousand pound deathtraps maintained (especially for a dump truck!)!?!
http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Fatal-Car-Crash-in-Lexington-Mass-3...
What people have to understand
It's all in the police report. Driving with a "suspended licence" means the person had a licence and it has been taken away, unpaid fines, speeding, OUI, etc. "Unlicensed" means NEVER had a license. With that being said, probably (not for sure, but probably) an illegal.
"Suspended license" could also mean
didn't maintain insurance payments or didn't pay child support. Neither of which actually reflects on a person's ability to properly drive a car or truck.
They don't suspend for not paying insurance....
Unless you don't pay your fines for driving previously for not having insurance.
Registered vehicles have to have insurance
Licensed drivers do not.
Therefore, not paying your insurance results in suspension of your registration. It does not result in suspension of your driving license.
I know people who maintain their driving licenses, but don't own a car, and don't pay for insurance. They get the insurance on rentals and from Zip Car.
Weak rationalization
when did zip car add dump trucks to their fleet? One tactic of the obfuscated is to change the topic.