On June 25, 2015, a truck driver with methamphetamines in his system was traveling north on Interstate 75 near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Traffic had slowed because of road construction, but this truck driver never slowed down.
He collided with the rear of a Toyota Prius.
The truck-tractor continued forward and collided with seven additional vehicles, forcing them into subsequent collisions. Of the 18 vehicle occupants, six people died and four people were injured. A post-crash fire consumed one vehicle.
This tragedy didn’t need to happen. The National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident. NTSB reviewed the truck driver’s toxicology results from drug tests taken after the crash. The driver had a history of drug abuse.
NTSB found that “the [hair] test results indicated a pattern of drug use not identified by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug testing program.”
[Related: Confused about ‘mandatory’ hair testing regs for driver drug tests? Here’s what to know]
