HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT. HOPPY'S OIL SERVICE, INC., TRUCK OVERTURN AND FIRE, STATE ROUTE 128, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS. OCTOBER 18, 1973

The report describes the left side tractor-tandem equalizer beam failure and the subsequent overturn of the tractor-semitrailer (tank) carrying gasoline on Massachusetts State Route 128 in Braintree, Massachusetts, on October 18, 1973. After failure of the equalizer beam, the vehicle veered to the right and struck a guardrail which redirected the truck back into the roadway. The semitrailer overturned onto the guardrail, which punctured the tank shell and permitted gasoline to escape. The overturned vehicle slid on its side back into the roadway, abrading holes in the tank shell permitting further escape of gasoline. The gasoline ignited, killing the truckdriver. The failure was precipitated by the increased dynamic loading imposed on the equalizer beam as the truck traversed a depression in the roadway.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Office of Surface Transportation Safety
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1974-10-2

Media Info

• Pagination: 43 p.

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00080440
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: SS-H-31
• Files: NTIS
• Created Date: Feb 11 1975 12:00AM