USPS Driver Killed in Hit-and-run Accident on I-880 in Oakland, CA
Oakland, CA -- December 4, 2022, a USPS driver sustained fatal injuries after an accident where racing vehicles caused the truck to crash.
Investigators were called out to the area of southbound I-880 and Broadway at around 1:05 a.m.
It appears that a USPS semi-truck was traveling along the interstate when a white Ford and a black sedan were allegedly racing. Doing so, one of the vehicles hit the left side of the truck, causing it to lose control. The USPS truck then crashed into the concrete barrier, overturned, and caught fire.
Due to the crash, the USPS driver sustained fatal injuries. Police believe someone picked up the driver of the white Ford and left the scene. Additional details about the black sedan are unavailable.
Commentary on USPS Driver Hit-and-run Accident on I-880 in Oakland
A hit-and-run is obviously incredibly infuriating, and if the public has information that can help to identify the drivers involved in this tragedy, they should come forward as soon as possible and share what they know. However, in all this chaos, and as much responsibility as those racing drivers should bear, there could be something else that led to this driver's tragic death. Anytime I see a commercial truck catch fire, there's a question I need to see answered: Was that fire the natural outcome of the crash, or was it the result of negligent manufacturing?
Put simply, many commercial trucks have fuel tanks installed such that they are unnecessarily exposed. This means they often burst into flames when other, safer trucks would likely not catch fire. As a result, drivers can be seriously hurt or killed when they should otherwise be able to go home to their loved ones. Folks would do well to understand this too little-discussed issue of the trucking industry, and this crash would likely be best off in the hands of professionals who won't let something like that slip through the cracks.
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