The driver of an 18-wheeler filled with auto parts lost consciousness and crashed into a Temple, Texas hotel.

The truck was traveling at approximately 65 mph wen it left Interstate Highway 35 and careened across a street, a ravine, two parking lots, and into a hotel.  Miraculously, there were no life-threatening injuries to people.

Temple first responders were called to what was reported as an explosion and fire are the Residence Inn Marriot. No fire or explosion existed, but an 18-wheeler had crashed into the building. The crash severely damaged rooms on the first and second floors where the truck went as much as 30-feet deep into those rooms.

The truck’s driver, Gustavo Rodriguez, was freed from the truck and taken to Scott & White Hospital. He remained there for through the evening for injuries to the upper body, head, and legs. One female guest was taken to Scott & White with lacerations to her legs after being near a room struck by the truck. Two other guests staying in a damaged room were eating breakfast when the crash happened. Another guest in a second-floor room was not in the room during the crash.

Driver inattention is one of the primary causes of 18-wheeler truck accidents.

Many adults, teenagers, and children in America have been left permanently disabled in rollover accidents involving the Yamaha Rhino Utility Terrain Vehicle.

Many have been killed.

A group of safety advocates and victims called for basic changes in the Rhino’s design to increase the safety of the passengers in the case of rollovers.  The report is titled “Citizen Report on UTV Vehicle Hazards.”  The report mainly focuses on the Yamaha Rhino and has been sent to several Committees including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Recreational Off Highway Vehicle Association as well as several Congress members.

The report calls for full doors and netting to be installed.  It also calls for design changes such as roll bar padding, increasing the axle width, and lowering its center of gravity to help prevent flipping.

The Rhino was not equipped with doors or safety netting to contain the passengers.

Yamaha announced that they would install half-doors on any 2004 – 2007 Rhinos for free but never issued a recall.  About half of the 120,000 Rhinos have not been upgraded.  People say that the half-doors are inadequate to provide the proper safety.

These vehicles are notorously unstable at the best of times. If you or someone you love has been injured by one of these contraptions, please see an experienced Texas vehicle accident attorney for professional insight.

The automaker Toyota is being vague about a defective steering relay rod.

The rod connects the pitman arm to the steering center link.  The problem is occurring in about a million light trucks and SUVs built between 1989 to 1998.

The rod has a tendency to snap causing a total loss of steering while the vehicle is in motion thus causing a disastrous truck wreck.

Toyota knew about the malfunction yet did not issue a recall.  It finally took a child’s death and a lawsuit to bring the problem to the public.  Toyota eventually issued a recall yet they have only successfully repaired about 32 percent of the defected vehicles.

Factoring in the vehicles that have been wrecked or junked, the total number of faulty vehicles on U.S. roads today is still about 500,000!