UPDATE: Tyrone Green Killed in Accident with Tow Truck on Interstate 10 in Los Angeles, CA
UPDATE, February 8 2019: Authorities have identified the Honda driver killed in this crash as 41-year-old Los Angeles man Tyrone Green.
Los Angeles, CA -- On February 1, 2019, a fatal crash between a tow truck and a passenger car on the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles took the life of the car's driver.
Authorities say the wreck happened shortly before 1:15 a.m. on the San Pedro Street exit ramp from the freeway. On arriving, traffic officers found the tow truck somehow on top of the Honda vehicle.
The driver of the Honda was pronounced dead at the scene. It's unclear if the tow truck driver was injured.
The California Highway Patrol continues to investigate the wreck.
Map of the Area
Commentary
Based on the news reports, it seems like the tow truck driver may be at fault in this accident. It's certainly unusual to see one vehicle land on top of another in this manner, but I have seen similar incidents before, and the vehicle on the bottom is rarely the one that "started it."
Part of being an attorney and advocating for victims of commercial truck accidents is looking for ways that a trucking firm might try to make excuses that allow their drivers (and by extension, themselves) to weasel out of responsibility.
In a densely-packed urban area like Los Angeles, where traffic zips to and fro at virtually every time of the day and night, one defense often attempted by trucking companies is to blame someone else on the road with their driver. Truck drivers have blamed "mystery cars" for decades, saying that phantom vehicles popped into the lane ahead of them, forcing them to swerve to avoid a collision. These swerves often cause different collisions, and lo and behold, those mystery drivers vanish into the distance without so much as a description, let alone a license plate number.
Don't get me wrong--people do crazy stuff on the highway all the time. I've witnessed drivers perform dangerous lane switches with just inches to spare, so I know it's possible. It just strikes me as odd that so many cars that defy basic description manage to cause wrecks all over the U.S., and they seemingly target commercial trucks for their reckless stunts. It's a dodgy excuse without any proof, and drivers who invoke the Mystery Car seldom have any.
My point is that to keep the tow truck driver and/or his employer from simply inventing the story that best suits them (considering the driver may be the lone surviving witness), it's imperative that a thorough investigation be conducted. I just hope the LAPD's crash team is really up to that challenge.
--Grossman Law Offices
[jump]
