Miriam Atteberry Killed in Log Truck Accident in Opelika, AL
Opelika, AL — October 30, 2023, Miriam Atteberry was killed as the result of a log truck accident at around 10:00 a.m. along Marvyn Parkway.
Initial details about the accident say that it happened at around 10:00 a.m., though the exact location is unclear.
According to officials, 44-year-old Miriam Atteberry was in a vehicle going southbound along Marvyn Parkway approaching a railroad bridge. At that bridge, it appears logs which were on a tractor-trailer hit the overhead bridge, causing logs to fall onto the roadway into Atteberry's path. Atteberry's vehicle crashed into the logs, resulting in fatal injuries.
Authorities say their Traffic Homicide team is looking into the crash, but it's unclear right now if there are any pending charges or citations. It frankly wouldn't surprise me if someone faces some sort of consequences, considering it's virtually impossible for this sort of thing to happen without someone making a mistake. Finding out who that may be, however, is a lot more complex than people may realize.
Most would assume that would be the log truck driver. They should know the height of their load, what bridges could be on their route, and to look for height limitation signs to make sure they can stop should they encounter a bridge that's not high enough.
But not many people realize there could be more than just the driver responsible for dangerously loaded cargo. It's possible some other company loaded that cargo improperly to begin with, meaning their actions, too, may have contributed to the resulting fatal crash. They wouldn't get to wash their hands of blame just because someone failed to catch their mistake. The law is nuanced enough that multiple parties can be held accountable should evidence show they played a role in someone's death.
With all of that said, we don't know what happened here or who may have been involved. For all we know, this could be that one-in-a-million freak occurrence no one could have seen coming. But with authorities saying they have a Traffic Homicide team looking into things, I can only hope that means they have the time and resources to investigate all possible contributing factors and who all may be responsible.
