Elaine Risler-Macdonald Killed in Semi-Truck Accident in Apple Valley, CA
Apple Valley, CA -- May 14, 2022, Elaine Risler-Macdonald was killed due to an accident where her vehicle collided with a semi-truck.
Investigators said that the crash took place in the area of State Highway 18 and Central Road just after midnight.
In reports, authorities said they believe that Elaine Risler-Macdonald was in a car traveling northbound on Central Road. At Highway 18, the vehicle crossed onto highway lanes where a Mack truck crashed into the car.
Due to the collision, Risler-Macdonald sustained fatal injuries. The exact factors surrounding the crash are unavailable at this time.
Commentary on Elaine Risler-Macdonald Semi-Truck Accident in Apple Valley
With a deadly truck wreck like this, it's important there are thorough investigations into what happened to let the evidence speak for itself. I have no specific reason to doubt these reports, but it's important to take initial details with a grain of salt until they information can be verified. In some reports, for example, authorities claim that the victim ran a red light. That can and does certainly happen, but something folks may not consider is the importance of the fact that the victim isn't around to tell their side of the story. Things can get rather challenging in a situation like that.
For example, I handled a situation not long ago in which police blamed a driver for crossing the center line and hitting an 18-wheeler head-on. When we looked into things, though, we found that police really only spoke with the surviving truck driver, and that was that. When we actually dug into the evidence in an independent investigation, however, the evidence showed that the 18-wheeler actually crossed the center line first. This caused the victim to swerve left, trying to avoid the truck, and the truck then veered back into its original lane where the collision occurred.
Again, just to be clear, I'm not trying to speculate about this particular crash. Examples like that are simply to show why I rely on experienced professional accident reconstructionists rather than police reports alone. These early reports rarely tell the whole story, and sometimes it turns out authorities missed something crucial. Maybe further investigations would only confirm what these reports say, but there's no doubt a family out there that would rather let the facts speak for themselves.
[jump]