Tanker in crash predated reforms
The gasoline tanker that flipped over and set an Everett street ablaze early Wednesday was a 28-year-old model that federal safety regulators allowed to stay on the road even after they toughened design and engineering standards to limit rollover-crash damage in the early 1990s, officials said yesterday.
Massachusetts State Police said they were continuing to investigate the accident and had no conclusions about what caused the crash besides speeding. They gave no estimate of the truck’s speed.
State Police Sergeant Robert Bousquet said records show the rig consisted of a 2007 Peterbilt tractor pulling a 1979 trailer containing 9,400 gallons of gas, a typical-size delivery to refill a 10,000-gallon underground tank at a gas station.
