One Killed, Three Injured in Van, Truck Accident on I-71 in Warren County, OH
Warren County, OH -- May 28, 2022, one person was killed and three people were injured due to an accident involving a semi-truck.
Investigators responded to the area of the I-71 Lebanon exit in the early morning hours of Saturday.
Officials said that a van was on the interstate "driving at a slow speed." Doing so, a semi-truck crashed into the van, ejecting at least one of the occupants. A car hit that person, then left the scene.
The person ejected from the van sustained fatal injuries in the crash. Three others were taken to an area hospital. No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Van, Truck Accident on I-71 in Warren County
A vehicle traveling slowly on an interstate early in the morning can sometimes be a serious issue to address. Depending on exactly how slow they were going, the truck driver may not have had ample warning to avoid the collision. However, evidence could otherwise show that the truck driver had every chance to avoid the yet failed to do so. Are investigators being thorough enough to get these answers?
I had a case not long ago with facts very similar to these. The family came to me with reports saying a semi-truck hit their loved one, who was disabled on the highway. The trucking company claimed the disabled vehicle simply was not visible in time, and the truck driver had no way to avoid the collision. Once we started digging, though, that claim turned out to be far from true.
A key piece of evidence was video footage we obtained a court order to view, showing video both from the dash cam and the inside of the driver's cab. The dash cam clearly showed the victim's hazard lights come into view more than half a mile down the road. So why didn't the truck slow down or move over? From the cabin footage, the driver was clearly too busy watching TV shows on his laptop to look up at the road.
What was said to be an unavoidable tragedy turned out to be the result of extreme recklessness when put under the proper scrutiny from professionals experienced with commercial truck wrecks. I am not at all saying similar mistakes led to this crash, but it's almost always prudent that similar steps are taken to bring the facts to light. That way, victims and families can at least know they're getting the full story.
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