Inspection Detail

Inspection: 112002399 - Marquette Trucking

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:44 p.m. on December 14, 1990, Employee #1 was driving a dump truck northwest on an access road parallel to a public street. He had just taken on a load of road scraping and gravel. The truck moved very slowly along the access road for about 65 yd, gradually drifting left until it ran off the road embankment and struck a high voltage power pole about 45 ft down the slope. The impact broke the pole into 4 pieces and the truck came to a stop 15 to 20 ft past the pole's base. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the scene. One piece of the pole crushed the cab roof, hampering the extraction of his body. Witnesses said they did not see brake lights, and that the truck's path was smooth and slow until it began lurching downhill. There was apparently no attempt by Employee #1 to alter his path or to slow the truck. The autopsy (case #90-2565) showed Employee #1 died of massive atheroscelerotic heart failure, probably before impact.

Keywords: HEART, HEART ATTACK, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, STRUCK AGAINST, EARTHMOVING EQUIP, TRUCK, DUMP TRUCK, UTILITY POLE, TRUCK DRIVER