FRANKLIN COUNTY, MO — Michael Branson was identified by police as the man that died in a tractor-trailer accident that happened in Franklin County, Missouri on Thursday, January 16th, 2015. The news said that the accident happened at about 5:10 Thursday afternoon.
50-year-old Michael Branson was killed when the car he was driving and a tractor-trailer collided on Highway 50. Police said that Branson’s vehicle may have crossed over the median where it collided head-on with a tractor-trailer.
Branson was killed in the crash. The driver of the tractor-trailer was identified as Joseph Zengarli, who was not hurt in the accident.
Officials from the Missouri State Police are still investigating the accident.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
With any kind of vehicle crossover accident, there is always seems to be a big push to blame the accident on the victim and call it a day, when really, all the questions haven’t been answered to make such a deduction. Was the victim’s vehicle working properly, was there a steering column lock up, or a tire blowout? Did the truck driver have plenty of time to react, but failed to, for whatever reason? Was the truck in perfect working order? Were the brakes working properly, and did they engage before the accident?
These are questions that need to be answered, and they need to be answered before we can assign blame or fault to anybody, especially with an accident this serious.
— Grossman Law Offices