This past Wednesday, a motorcycle crash injured the driver when insulation that spilled from a truck forced him to ditch his bike to avoid striking it. The 56-year-old motorcyclist has not been identified but was taken to the Reno Emergency Center for serious injuries.

Witnesses say they saw the roll of fiberglass insulation fall from the back of the truck, which forced the cyclist to ditch in an attempt to avoid colliding with it. The cargo vehicle did not stop, and witnesses say they do not think the driver was aware of what had actually occurred at the time. The Reno Highway Patrol is asking the public for any information they might have to help track down the truck driver.

All motorists are wary of tractor-trailers, and a healthy fear of them is common. The dangers surrounding large trucks on today’s roads are many, but trucks carrying cargo that is open to the air can elicit well-deserved nervousness and anxiety. The fact that the truck driver in this case did not stop is disturbing regardless of whether he knew of the danger he posed and the loss of cargo or not. That he could go unaware of such an event is a sobering thought. How exactly does one miss a large piece of insulation flying off their vehicle? How did it come loose in the first place? Just the same, even more disturbing is the notion that he might have known and kept driving anyway.

Standards for the acceptable ways of securing cargo vary from state to state, and no system is perfect… There may well be no specific fault to find in this case, as it could have simply been equipment failure. Yet the accident occurred on Wednesday and has received some degree of news coverage. Questions as to why the driver has not attempted to contact the authorities are reasonable, since by now he almost certainly must have noted or been told of the cargo missing from his truck.

As the NHP continues its investigation, they ask any parties with information to contact them through Trooper Harvey Brown regarding case number NHP-1003170235.