Did not take care of himself and became the cause of a fatal accident

The Transport Accident Investigation Board has completed a fatal accident investigation where a passenger car was driven on the back of a tractor on Suðurlandsvegur on the eastern Sólheima in January 2024. A driver in the tractor died in the accident. It is the committee’s conclusion that the driver of the passenger car did not take care of traffic in front of the car.

Then the driver of the passenger car was diagnosed with hypocritical blood in the medicinal dose.

Then it says that the seat back with good back and head support for the driver is much better protected from the stroke that forms in the rear-end collision. « The height of the tractor’s driver’s seat back was about 35 cm and it provided little support for the collision and the driver was severely internalized, » The report says.

The incident occurred on January 29, 2024. Then the Massey Ferguson tractor was driven west of Suðurlandsveg at the offspring to Eystri-Sólheimar. At the same time, the Jeep Wrangler passenger car was driven from the same direction as the back of the tractor. The tractor stopped outside the road, but the passenger car rolled to the left side of the road. The driver of the tractor, a 65 -year -old man, died at the scene. Two passengers in the back seat of the passenger car were transported by helicopter from the accident site. The driver and passenger in the front of the car were transported by ambulance to hospital, according to the report.

Died at the scene

The accident was reported at. 18:01 and the emergency responders went to the area. Darkness was on the ground, west of 12 meters per second and three -point temperature. The road, which was paved, was wet but the surface is mostly empty. There is a maximum speed of 90 km per hour.

The report states that the driver of the tractor was conscious after the accident but died at the scene of an accident due to internal injuries. The driver of the passenger car was not seriously injured.

Passenger in the left -back was injured most of the passengers of the passenger car, but not life -threatening. In addition, a passenger in the right back seat was transported to a hospital with the Coast Guard helicopter.

The driver and passenger in the front seat were less injured and were transported by ambulance at HSU in Selfoss. Everyone in the passenger car was excited about seat belts.

The speed of the tractor probably small

The investigative committee says that there was no speedometer in the tractor, nor other equipment that could have been read from it. The stated maximum speed of Massey Ferguson 390T is 40 km/h. The likelihood indicates that the driver of the tractor was to start the right turn off the Suðurlandsvegur road and the speed of the tractor was probably small.

According to data from the car’s collision control system, it was driven with an active speed and its speed was 84 to 85 km/h. up to five seconds before the accident. 0.3 seconds before the collision was stepped on the car’s brake and its speed was 80 km/h. This is in line with the driver’s testimony.

The light change interrupted

He said the change of light after sunset had a disruptive effect on the drive. Sunset had been in the southwest direction from his driving direction west of Suðurlandsveg about an hour before the accident and darkness arrived at. 17:55.

The authors also say that the result of alcoholic research on drivers has been negative. Dry medicine was diagnosed in the blood of the driver of the passenger car at a healing dose. The medicine was not marked with a red triangle, but the drug instructions state that the machines should not be driven or operated after taking the drug because of its effects.

Caughrs to passengers just before the accident

The driver of the passenger car said he was well -awake at the time of the accident. He said he had woken up at. 6:00 but go to bed the night before at. 22:00 and therefore be well rested. He had driven his passengers east of Keflavik Airport on an organized day trip. They were on their way to Hvolsvöllur when the accident occurred.

He was looking after passengers in the car just before the accident and they were all asleep. When he looked back, the tractor suddenly appeared in front of him, but it was not visible to him before that time. He has not been seriously injured in the collision and has gone into assisting injured on the ground, as stated in the report.

The provisions on disqualification boundaries for drug use need to be clarified

« Recently, the Transport Accident Investigation Board has been included in the Transport Accident Investigation Board Incidents where drivers are driving and diagnosed with hypocritical blood medicine in a medicinal dose prescribed by a physician. The concentration of 20 different drugs, which research shows can affect traffic safety.

It calls for the proposal to the Ministry of Infrastructure to impose a regulation in more detail provisions on disqualification limits, that is, when a driver is considered to be unfit to operate vehicles for consumption of drugs.

Discrepancy on precautions

The committee also states that in the investigation of the case, it was found that there is a discrepancy in precautionary markings on the packaging of drugs.

« Medicines that are conservative for driving are sold without a red alarm triangle on the packaging despite the fact that the leaflet states that driving is conservative or even driving or using machines after taking the drug. Claims between countries on additional containers for the packaging of drugs, but the red triangle is part of the special requirements that Iceland makes for inscriptions. And it is therefore important in all cases to read the leaflet, but it always provides users with the best information, ”the report says.

The committee is directing the Icelandic Medicines Agency to use it for coordination of the labeling of packaging drugs that can reduce the ability to drive and use machines. It varies whether a red precautionary triangle is on the packaging of such drugs, as stated earlier.

Important to always consider the safety equipment

In addition, the Transport Accident Investigation Board recommends the recommendation to the owners/guardians of labor and tractors to always consider their safety equipment. To increase safety, it is desirable to create such machines with safe seats with high back. In the Committee’s opinion, seat belts are also necessary in each vehicle driven on the registered road of the country.