Originally Posted by
Square & Compas
Leaving the scene is definatly worse then violating towing laws. But if towing more then one of these tanks is illegal and had he obeyed that law Doug Smith would never have been hit. It was the second trailer that hit him. Also imagine what would have happened if one of these tanks had capsized and leaked. Or if Lynch had collided with an oncoming vehicle, he passed in a no passing zone, causing a far worse collision thus capsizing one of the ammonia tanks and causing it to leak.
Don't know if know much about anhydrous ammonia, but it is toxic stuff. It will kill you if you breath it in, there is no maybe about it. It pretty much dehydrates and dries your lungs instantly, but death is not immediate. It takes a while for you to die while you suffocate. Very nasty stuff. Everytime there is a spill or leak by one of these trailers any populated area within at least a mile has to be evacuated, no matter how much of a population it is. Could be one or 2 farms or an entire town.
Yea I know about the stuff. It'll remove flesh on contact and it's toxic when it forms as a gas. I'm actually from Iowa.
I was actually pointing this out to someone on the Des Moines Register's site: If he'd been in a car it may have been much much worse as the car might have broken open the anhydrous tank.