Driver injured & 3 horses dead after accident.
Not sure which horses died or what trainer/barn they were with.
Updated info
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Awful. 
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Where was the other driver? No mention.
There were no grooms in the trailer. Lucky for them.
So sad.
What other driver?
Lots of team driving in horse vans.
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I would guess so, especially as they were transporting horses, it would be best to have another person riding shotgun in case of emergency.
It’s a 600 mile trip though, I don’t know the DOT rules, but a 600 mile trip doesn’t seem as if it would require two drivers, if the driver had a proper amount of sleep before starting off.
It’s a shame, and I hope survivors human and equine make it.
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Agree. Plus surely that’s a dedicated run. And it is hard to tell but I don’t think there is a full sleeper on that tractor.
How tragic.
Jingles for all the horses and their connections.
Here is one of the horses, Vitement, after the accident:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10163380840678146&id=768188145&mibextid=oFDknk&rdid=LQfQ7XWiicxqP5t4
Here he is coming home:
https://twitter.com/wiley77/status/1774844668368351615
And ten minutes later, turned out sedated:
https://twitter.com/wiley77/status/1774850523012681962?t=f8FXOj6hfDZAALjz9fmn9w&s=19
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I may have missed it mentioned, what caused the accident?
Owners are now suing
“Creech and Landmeier stated that in this instance, the plaintiffs allegedly agreed to shipping terms “limiting liability to $5,000 per horse in exchange for a reduced charge for providing transport services.””
Well, that doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Except most liability waivers are null & void when negligence is the cause of damages.
The driver was well over his legal limit for driving. The company knew this.
The driver fell asleep at the wheel & caused the accident.
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Are horse van drivers immune from eLogs?
Oh, wow. That’s insane. Every 18 wheeler/heavy truck driver should be required to abide by them, IMO.
And it definitely introduces the negligence into the situation, particularly if they have the guaranteed 2 drivers in writing.
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I find this interesting because I’ve seen the $5k limit written on the paperwork for van rides a lot - but I’ve never been asked if I wanted to increase the amount. It never even occurred to me to ask to increase the amount.
I would call/text X company, they’d arrive with a carbon copy manifest that the barn staff would sign, and load the horse and go. We literally would not even discuss the cost of the van. To give an idea of how many vans I’ve schedule, during breeding season we’d have 4-5 vans at the farm a day. So lots of opportunities to be asked if I wanted to increase the value.
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Are the horses separately insured? I think that could factor in, in that case.
Yes - a separate line for each horse with a value on the animal.
Let me grab a photo of one and redact it and I’ll post it.
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I thought they were
