The report discusses the overturn of a tractor-semitrailer transporting torpedoes for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on an interstate highway in Denver, Colorado, about 4:48 a.m., m.d.t., on August 1, 1984. Local emergency response organizations were unable to gain immediate access to authoritative information and expertise on the threat to the safety of the community posed by the torpedoes. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was driver inexperience and excessive speed for the configuration of the ramp. Contributing to the accident was the ineffectiveness of the signing to alert the driver to the configuration of the ramp connection, and the higher-than-necessary center of gravity of the loaded vehicle due to the limited options provided in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) loading instructions. Also, contributing to the accident was the failure of the DOD and the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety to establish adequate driver qualification and experience standards for drivers transporting hazardous materials. Contributing to the difficulties in conducting the emergency response were the lack of a readily identifiable means for local emergency response personnel to obtain technical information from the DOD about the hazards of the shipment, inappropriate and inconsistent recommendations by the DOD concerning initial actions to be taken by local response agencies, and the lack of clear procedures for providing a prompt and coordinated DOD onscene emergency response.


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    Title :

    Hazardous Materials Accident Report - Overturn of a Tractor-Semitrailer Transporting Torpedoes, Denver, Colorado, August 1, 1984


    Publication date :

    1985


    Size :

    68 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English