• December 19, 2022

Providence, RI — December 16, 2022, 45-year-old trucker Adrian Morales died in a tractor-trailer accident on Interstate 95 in Providence.

Authorities say the incident happened around 1:00 a.m. on I-95 north near the Route 10 overpass. Preliminary investigation suggests Morales was traveling on the highway when he may have lost control for unknown reasons. The truck then hit the abutment of an Amtrak bridge, after which it crashed into a disabled car in the fast lane and then overturned.

Morales was ejected from the truck and suffered fatal injuries. The car's driver received serious injuries and was taken to an area hospital.

The investigation continues. No further information is available at this time.

Commentary on Adrian Morales Accident in Providence

Folks tend to overlook accidents like this and just assume the truck driver did something wrong. Evidence sometimes confirms that, but it still can't be taken for granted while the facts are still being assembled. Anything from poor road conditions to malfunctioning truck parts to sudden medical emergencies could have been involved, and it's crucial not to overlook them while jumping to conclusions.

Vehicle malfunctions in particular are too often ignored. I've lost count of the instances where a careful forensic investigation found damaged or defective parts that clearly contributed to an 18-wheeler going out of control, yet in many of those cases driver error was blamed in "official" reports. The unfortunate truth is that inferior or defective parts have caused many trucks to crash--and in some cases have turned an already-serious accident to a fatal one.

I'm not saying I know a dicey truck was a key factor in the Providence accident, but malfunctions are a crucial area of investigation that is too often ignored when the people in charge have neither the time nor the training to deal with them. That's why it's crucial that people with the right tools take a second look in case something slipped through the cracks.