Randall Buxton Killed in Semi-Truck Accident on I-94 in Cass County, ND
UPDATE (March 17, 2023): Recent reports identified the victim in the crash and also show there are pending charges stemming from the crash. According to officials, 72-year-old Randall Buxton died as a result of crashing into the back of a tanker truck which authorities say was stopped on westbound lanes of the interstate. The driver of that tanker was charged for negligent homicide, but they have yet to publicly confirm why the truck was stopped or what specifically led to the charge. Investigations are ongoing at this time.
While I certainly don't have any additional inside information on this, this is a pretty serious criminal charge. Something I discussed below in my initial thoughts on this story is the possibility of avoidable scenarios leading to a truck stopping on a roadway, such as a mechanical issue resulting from poor maintenance. Could something like that be what led police to arrest this driver? Perhaps more importantly, will investigations stop at this individual, or could there be more people responsible for whatever led to this crash? Was there an employer here that knew something like this could happen or perhaps failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it?
Ensuring there is accountability is obviously a priority after any serious truck wreck, but I also can't help wondering if preventing others from being hurt is really going to be as simple as getting one driver off the street.
Cass Count, ND -- March 15, 2023, a Canadian truck driver was killed and another was hurt following an accident involving two semis on I-94.
Initial details about the accident say it happened at around 2:00 p.m. outside of Mapleton, which is between Casselton and Fargo. Authorities said that a 72-year-old man from British Columbia was in a Peterbilt semi-truck going westbound on the interstate. Ahead, there was a tanker which may have been stopped or "moving slowly," according to calls authorities received prior to the collision. The Peterbilt ran into the back of the tanker truck, causing the wreckage to catch fire.
Due to the collision, the British Columbia man was killed.While Additional details regarding the factors leading up to the collision are unavailable at this time.
It's not entirely confirmed if the tanker moving slowly truly was a factor here, but if it's indeed the truck police got calls about prior to the collision, it's important to find out what was going on. Problems can come up unexpectedly, and there's only so much a truck driver can do to avoid creating a deadly hazard. If the tanker was experiencing some sort of mechanical problems, it may simply have been unavoidable.
But it's also possible the situation involved something more avoidable. A while back, for example, I handled a crash involving a tractor-trailer disabled on the highway. Through our investigations we found some serious mistakes. One was that the truck driver didn't put out any kind of warning devices behind the truck despite being there for several minutes. But more than that, the mechanical issues that disabled the truck were the direct result of months of neglected maintenance.
I'm not saying that happened here, of course, but there isn't enough evidence to say one or another if something like that did contribute to this crash. That's why it's important to consider these possibilities and ensure the victim's loved ones are getting the whole story.
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