13 Comments

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  some14some at 07:20 AM JST - 4th August

  (how) many gallons of fuel went into flames disrupting highway traffic for several hrs.

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  Hoolie at 08:40 AM JST - 4th August

  Japanese news sources say 14K liters of gasoline and 4K liters of diesel. That section of expresway is expected to be closed for at least 4 days, as the asphalt was melted and flowed into ripples - it needs to be re-laid.

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  electric2004 at 12:57 PM JST - 4th August

  A truck usually does not flip sideways by itself. What did the driver do to come into such situation? Did he watch TV on his mobile or was he just making a phone call?

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  eleewhm at 02:19 PM JST - 4th August

  60 trucks... isit a tad too many to put out 1 burning truck

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  wanderlust at 06:38 PM JST - 4th August

  eleewhm - 60 Japanese fire trucks - generally quite small, with very limited supply of water/ foam/ retardant, and probably limited or no access to good water supply.

  The "truck" was a tanker, carrying 18,000 litres of inflammable liquids, quite a challenge for the fire services in any country......

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  roomtemperature at 06:39 PM JST - 4th August

  electric2004

  So, according to you the driver was watching TV or making a call. Were you sitting next to him?

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  betterdays at 07:06 PM JST - 4th August

  Electric2004 Thats y they are called accidents they happen Not necessarily through negligence..its irresponsible to always make suppositions and innuendos in such situations

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  nisegaijin at 09:03 PM JST - 4th August

  A truck usually does not flip sideways by itself. What did the driver do to come into such situation? Did he watch TV on his mobile or was he just making a phone call?

  probably none of the above, but was probably driving like a total moron. I saw an idiot on Tomei today: it was relatively congested, so I was in fast lane behind this dude in toyota crown who was going slightly above limit and overtaking people who were in left lanes; so this crackhead in his truck was tailgating me first, then he tried to over take on left, after he failed he tried to go to most left lane and failed completely. I haven't seen him since as we pulled away maintaining same speed. But at the end he was slower and burned more fuel than he could if he just stayed in the same lane. At least he didn't flip over and burn.

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  Youdontknow at 09:28 AM JST - 5th August

  Let's stop speculating about the driver here eh:

  A truck usually does not flip sideways by itself. What did the driver do to come into such situation? Did he watch TV on his mobile or was he just making a phone call?

  As an ex truck driver from the UK, I can tell you that trucks don't always do what you want them to. Especially with a heavy load where the weight of that load can shift the whole truck in a direction other than that of the current movement of the truck. It's called 'jack knifing' and happens a lot more than you hear about. So give the guy a break and stop with the speculation.

  Nisegaijin, yeah, it amazes me how some of these truckers DO drive, but my take on tailgating is this: if he's on your rear so close, just stick to the speed limit. I had a trucker do this to me once and also try to take over on the left, on the hard shoulder of all places! When he pulled level with me, honking his horn, and then looked down and realized my baby was on the front seat, he slammed his brakes on hard. These a-holes should be made to take driving tests once a year in my opinion!

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  skippermutt at 10:36 AM JST - 5th August

  Its unfortunate, after all we chose to use oil,instead of electricity.In the 1797 though it may be later the first electric motor was built in england.Long before we started useing oil or fuel,we could have traveled a better path. Fortunatlly we still can!Please ignore my spelling,,so sorry,gramer too. Anyway, I,m into history,an x-soldger of 8+ years,no coledge,just practical use experiance. ok! I,ve develop an electro-magnetic drive system that will replace most electric plants,nuclear,gas,used in cars,trucks,aircraft,ships,etc,,,,Well nobody is listening,I,ve e-mailed t boon,Al gore,austin energy commission,,an nothing...Is the country of Japan interested in an energy sorce that aleady existes,you,ve already got it,all I have to do is rearange it and wow,,I,ll probably have to do this on my own,But in the future I,ll be pointing this out,You were contacted,you chose not to step up, Thank you John L. Thornton Austin tx 78750

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  dennis0bauer at 03:47 PM JST - 5th August

  i hope the driver will spend a long time in jail for wasting such precious commodity! :p

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  electric2004 at 12:21 AM JST - 6th August

  roomtemperature, betterdays:

  Reading the Japanese Mainichi, it says:

  "警視庁高速隊は、タンクローリーがカーブを曲がりきれずに横転したとみている。"

  In other words, somehow the driver did not manage to follow the curve. So instead of the possibilities I suggested (I did not say it was so), the driver at least was not completely fit for driving or somehow was distracted. If there were ice or snow or oil on the road, or the truck had a failure, or another car or truck made problems - I assume it would have been already reported. It was not reported, therefore I still assume the driver was not alert.

  Youdontknow:

  As ex-driver you know that drivers of dangerous substances have to follow stricter rules. For example reducing speed before the situation gets dangerous. And, of course, planning the route to drive before starting. Then there is no surprise while driving. There exists special Navigation software for trucks which allows to simulate a drive in advance. Exactly for the purpose of preventing accidents like this. But nothing is mentioned here.

  Or it is just insufficient reporting. Then I am willing to take back my remarks.

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  electric2004 at 12:25 AM JST - 6th August

  I forgot to add. Tomorrow I need to get up 1 hour earlier because of the traffic jams, resulting from this accident when I want to take a Highway-bus to Haneda. The highway bus company called and apologized today and made the suggestion of taking the earliest bus available. Some I heard from co-worker who will be on business trip tomorrow.

  I would say, many, many people are inconvenienced by the aftermath of this accident.

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