runaway truck
Uncontrolled descending vehicle
A runaway truck is a large vehicle, typically a semi or tractor-trailer, that has lost braking power—usually on a steep downgrade—and cannot stop.
Highway engineers build runaway truck ramps on mountain roads: gravel-filled escape lanes that slow vehicles through friction and incline.
The driver steered into the runaway truck ramp at seventy miles per hour.
- brakesDevices for stopping motion
- brake failureLoss of deceleration ability
- air brakesPneumatic vehicle deceleration system
- downhillToward the bottom
- steepRising at sharp angle
steep grade · grade · ramp · semitruck · big rig · diesel · careening · swerving · lost control · gravel · escape · highway · mountain · crash · near miss · speeding · momentum · jackknife