Gabriel Autry, 4 Killed, 1 Injured in 18-wheeler Accident on Hayfield Road in Cumberland County, NC
UPDATE (March 7, 2023): Recent reports identified one of the victims killed in the crash as 36-year-old Gabriel Antonio Autry. Others remain unidentified at this time. There are also details saying the truck driver involved in the crash was cited for not having an operator's license. This and other details remain under investigation.
Below, I discussed the importance of taking early reports with a grain of salt. There's no telling what can come to light as investigations continue. Now, there's the concerning detail of the truck driver being cited here. I'm not here to say that has implications one way or another in regards to fault, but it's an example of how new things can come to light over time. It remains to be seen if there will be more concerning details come to the surface as investigations continue here.
Cumberland County, NC -- March 5, 2023, five people were killed and another was hurt after an accident where an 18-wheeler and SUV crashed.
Investigators reported that the incident happened at around 2:47 p.m. in the area of Hayfield Road and Goldsboro Road/US 13.
Initial details about the crash said that an SUV traveling through the intersection may not have stopped for a stop sign. As a result, it crashed with an 18-wheeler. Due to this, five people in the SUV sustained fatal injuries. The 18-wheeler driver had minor injuries, reports say. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
With so many lives torn apart here, all I can do for now is hope investigations are as thorough as possible. People see preliminary reports say someone ran a stop sign, and that's all they need to hear. But there can be unusual circumstances to consider.
For example, I was looking into a crash here in Texas a while back with similar details to these. But after weeks of independent investigations, a friend of the firm filled me in on details the public never got to hear. Apparently, the victim that "ran a stop sign" went through a crossing where construction crews actually removed those stop signs, then forgot to replace them entirely. So how did the victim run a stop sign that wasn't even there?
If that sounds pretty farfetched, that's because it is. That's why it's so fortunate the investigators handling that situation were thorough. Otherwise, that unusual detail could have gone completely overlooked, and the victim's loved ones may never have learned the truth. Hopefully investigators of equal caliber are able to get the families involved here the answers they deserve, as well.
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