Melissa Mitchell Killed in Tractor-Trailer Accident in Stroud, OK
Stroud, OK -- July 19, 2022, Melissa Mitchell was killed due to an accident where a tractor-trailer crashed and caught fire.
According to initial reports from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the crash took place early Tuesday just outside Stroud along the Turner Turnpike.
Lincoln County officials did not specify exactly what caused the crash. They said that three vehicles, including a Freightliner, collided along the turnpike. A tractor-trailer caught fire as a result. Due to the accident, the Freightliner passenger, identified as 41-year-old Melissa Mitchell, sustained fatal injuries.
Currently, additional details about the crash are unclear.
Commentary on Melissa Mitchell Tractor-Trailer Accident in Stroud
It's not entirely clear what all happened here, and there is even some ambiguity about where exactly the victim was at the time of the crash. However, one thing that concerns me is seeing she was in a commercial truck, and reports say a commercial truck involved in the crash caught fire. Was she in that truck? If so, why exactly did that truck catch fire? Depending on the answers, there could be a serious manufacturing issue that authorities aren't likely to look into on their own.
That may not seem very likely, and folks may just assume that a truck catching fire is a predictable result of a crash. That can be true, depending on the exact nature of the crash and what sparked the fire. What not a lot of people realize, though, is just how unnecessarily dangerous it is to be inside of a commercial truck.
The cabins are rarely anything more than plastic or sheet metal, and side-saddle fuel tanks essentially put the most flammable pieces of the truck in the easiest spots to hit. Despite there being well-known and reasonably affordable fixes to these issues, manufacturers and trucking companies basically refuse to make the necessary changes to keep their drivers and their passengers safe.
Again, I can't say anything like that happened here, but I almost never see authorities ask these questions. As such, getting answers about this awful event could require more thorough independent investigations.
[jump]
