Old Bridge Township, NJ — The driver of an 18-wheeler that hit and killed a woman in Old Bridge Township, on March 31. The accident took place on Route 9, around 12:30 in the afternoon.
Stephen Seidl was driving the truck when he struck the Hyundai Bennett was driving. The collision set the car on fire and pushed it a quarter of a mile down the road. Route 9 was closed for several hours while the scene was investigated, and emergency workers cleared the area.
It’s believe that Seidl was under the influence of a controlled substance. Police arrested him at his home last Thursday, and he’s currently being held on a $300,000 bond.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Companies spend a lot of time and effort training their truck drivers, so even after a bad accident, you often see them circle the wagons around a driver, because financially, it makes sense to protect an asset they invested so much in. Then there are cases like this. Cases in which the driver has gone so far off the reservation that you’ll see the company really try and wash their hands of the whole situation. In these cases, the trucking company may claim that their insurance doesn’t cover criminal negligence, which killing someone while on drugs would be. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, the company is trying to walk away from an accident they played a role in. Two, the driver probably isn’t going to be able to make the victims or their families whole by themselves.
Many people I talk to seem to think that when a party is responsible for an accident, it’s obvious, and only a matter of time before they make good on their obligations, whether financial or otherwise. That is very rarely the case. More often than not, the company is going to be looking for an out, and that’s something victims and their families need to be aware of.
