One Injured in Auto Accident on I-335 in Shawnee County, KS
Shawnee County, KS — May 31, 2022, one person was hospitalized after a tractor-trailer allegedly caused an SUV to crash on Interstate 335 in Shawnee County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 7:00 a.m. on northbound I-335. Preliminary investigation suggests a Chevrolet Equinox was traveling north on the highway when a nearby 18-wheeler changed lanes close to it. The Chevy driver took evasive maneuvers across both travel lanes and crashed into the median barrier before coming to rest.
A passenger in the Equinox suffered serious injuries and was taken to an area hospital. No other injuries were reported.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Truck Accident on I-335 in Shawnee County
It seems from reports like the truck driver may have made an unsafe lane change and triggered the Chevy driver's attempt to evade it. The news isn't wholly clear on how things happened on the road, though, and further investigation may tell a different version of that story.
If however the truck driver really did cause the SUV to swerve off-course and crash, that doesn't mean he or his employer are likely to jump at the chance to make things right and help the injured victim with her recovery. Trucking companies are pretty notorious for disputing any liability no matter what reports say their drivers did. In Kansas, for example, they might argue that the victim's "faulty evasive maneuvers" were actually responsible for the damage done. Is that accurate? Probably not, but the company's goal is to make a jury feel too much doubt to put them on the hook.
The best way to cut through all those arguments and deflections is to show up with abundant clear evidence telling how the incident really happened. That might involve looking for witnesses, forensic data from the scene, dashcam or traffic-cam footage, the truck driver's cell phone records, and many other sources of valuable data.
Police don't always go that far and victims are rarely forensic analysts themselves, which is why I often recommend getting help from independent experts that have the time and training to see the job done right. After building a case around the information they find, many victims have successfully sought help from the companies behind the truckers that hurt them.
