A tragic accident occured today on Highway 67 north of Bonne Terre, Missouri. A driver of a semi-truck smashed into a car that was stopped on the highway. There were three people in the passenger car and all three people were killed from injuries resulting from the car accident. The driver of the tractor-trailer was driving on a revoked license. What’s worse, after the initial impact on Highway 67 and Berry Road in Missouri, the driver of the semi-truck continued to drive on, dragging the car. The driver of the truck, who was unharmed, was later charged with three counts of voluntary manslaughter.
While it is always horrible to hear of fatal accidents like these, it really struck me that two of the victims were young – 18 years old and 20 years old. It is unclear why the vehicle was stopped on the highway but given the snowy weather the St. Louis Metro Area received for the majority of the day Thursday, it would not surprise me to hear that the vehicle was stopped due to a weather-related impasse. It is also not yet clear as to what caused this tractor trailer to strike the vehicle. Semi-truck accidents often occur due to driver inattention or fatigue. In this case, it is certainly curious that the truck driver was driving on a revoked license. As a tractor trailer accident attorney, I would immediately investigate into why this license was revoked. I would also want to obtain the black box from the tractor trailer itself to rule out any kind of mechanical failure. My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the victims of this traffic accident.
Driver charged with involuntary manslaughter in St. Francois County crash, KMOV Yahoo News, January 20, 2011.