Boonsboro, MD — Two people were injured when a tractor-trailer failed to slow down for stopped traffic on Interstate 70 in Boonsboro, Maryland, on Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The driver of the tractor-trailer has been identified as Kent Nixon, of Linthicum, Maryland.
Nixon collided with a Mercury station wagon being driven by Caterina Earle, which sent it rolling over on the interstate’s right shoulder. After colliding with the Mercury, the tractor-trailer swerved into the interstate’s fast lane and hit Dale Ehrhart, who was driving a minivan. The truck drove into the median before finally coming to a stop. The extent of Earle’s and Ehrhart’s injuries is unclear at this time.
Police have cited Nixon for negligent driving. There’s been no word on any injuries he sustained.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Truck drivers get into some really bad accidents. And often, it has nothing to do with how they’re driving. They’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then there are accidents like this. Accidents that look like they’re caused only because the driver wasn’t paying close enough attention to the road ahead of them. Is it possible there was something completely out of the driver’s control that could have caused this? Absolutely. It’s just that what’s being reported, as well as the fact that he was cited by police, isn’t pointing in that direction.
Avoiding accidents like this is always going to be easier if a driver is doing two things. Those are driving at a safe speed, and at a safe distance from the person ahead of you. If the driver in this accident had been doing both of those things, we would have seen that traffic had backed up, and that he needed to stop. Unfortunately he didn’t, and two people were injured. Even more unfortunately is that, despite the fact that the police ticketed him for negligent driving, his trucking company is still likely to defend his actions. Hopefully, they’ll find a way to do right by the two drivers.
— Grossman Law Offices