Fairview, ND — A man was killed just north of Fairview, North Dakota, when his car was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler on Friday, June 20, 2014. The accident took place around 7:15 in the morning.
The man, whose name has not been replaced, had come to a stop at the intersection of Highway 200 and Highway 58. Authorities say a 2007 Peterbilt truck was traveling behind him on Highway 58 and failed to stop. The truck rear-ended the car, pushing it into a ditch and turning it over. The man had to be extricated from his vehicle by emergency personnel.
Both drivers were taken to Sidney Health Center. The driver of the car died a short time later.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
There are really only two possibilities here. One, the truck driver was driving too fast and couldn’t stop in time. Two, the truck driver was following the car too closely, so when it stopped, the truck couldn’t help but rear-end it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I see accidents like this quite a bit. Truck drivers have a duty to take extra car while out on the road, if for no other reason than how destructive their vehicles can be. Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen.
If you’re driving at a safe speed and at a safe distance from the person in front of you, getting into an accident is going to be that much more difficult. From what’s been presented here, it seems as if the truck driver wasn’t doing at least one of the two. If the police investigation finds that that was the case, then the truck driver, and by extension, the trucking company, is going to be liable for the accident.
— Grossman Law Offices
