On behalf of Weisman, Kennedy & Berris Co., L.P.A. posted in Truck Accidents on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.

Drivers in Cleveland are familiar with Dead Man’s Curve — the dangerous stretch of Interstate 90 that, since 2009, has seen 63 accidents involving large commercial vehicles. The latest of those crashes occurred on July 17, when a tractor-trailer hauling a load of metal coils failed to slow down enough to make it around the curve intact.

The truck’s heavy cargo spilled onto the freeway, and an SUV trying to avoid the situation flipped over. According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the 63 wrecks involving semi-trucks have resulted in injuries at least 24 times, and people have long wondered whether the design of the road itself is partly to blame.

Improper lane changes, failure to slow down, falling off of heavy cargo due to the lack of ratchet straps, following too closely — these are the typical reasons listed for many of the accidents on Dead Man’s Curve. The road was designed in 1955, and the speed-capability of today’s vehicles, large and small, may make the curve especially dangerous. Nevertheless, drivers in Ohio — and especially drivers of large trucks — have a legal obligation to exercise due caution.

That means responding to signs indicating a curve in the road. Too often, a failure to slow down in such situations results in serious accidents, and drivers who make that mistake can be held liable for injuries.

As for Dead Man’s Curve, the press secretary for the Ohio Department of Transportation had this to say: “Would we build a road like that today? No. That design is no longer even valid.” Such a statement more or less admits to the inherent lack of safety on that stretch of freeway, but until the state finds the money to straighten out Dead Man’s Curve, Ohio motorists are well-advised to take it slowly.

Source: The Plain Dealer, “Cleveland’s Dead Man’s Curve not going to stop tipping trucks anytime soon (23-photo gallery),” Aaron Marshall, July 22, 2012