Two recent semi truck accidents each claimed the life of a single victim. Semi trucks are very large vehicles that create an extensive danger zone around them. They are difficult to stop, take special effort to maneuver, require extensive maintenance to operate properly, and have massive blind spots that make it difficult for their drivers to see all areas of the road.
In the first accident, a man was killed in South Carolina’s Florence County. The accident involved the man’s Chevy Traverse, another driver’s Toyota Corolla, and the tractor trailer. The accident took place on I-95.
Florence County Coroner, M.G. “Bubba” Matthews, identified the victim as Gerald R. Harrington of Lugard, South Carolina. He was 60 years old at the time of death. Four other people involved in the accident were taken to area hospitals for assorted injuries from the accident. According to West Florence Fire Capt., Anthony Fox, the accident shut down a portion of the interstate for several hours.
In the second accident, it was the driver of the semi truck that was killed. On highway 52 in Indiana’s Rush County, the driver of a semi truck rolled his vehicle, and died as a result. The semi came to rest on its top, and the cab was completely crushed. The driver died as a result of trauma received in the accident. Police were alerted to the accident and responded quickly. When they arrived, they found the vehicle, a 2004 Freightliner, lying on its top. According to witness and police accounts, the driver was pulling a flatbed trailer full of shingles when he began to drift off the side of the road. He attempted to correct, but overcompensated and crossed over the highway before spilling off the left side of the road entirely.
The driver of the truck was identified as Brian Moore, of Laurel Indiana. He was 43.
