PEMISCOT COUNTY, MO — Tow truck driver Charles White was identified by Missouri State Highway Patrol officials as the man that was hurt in a semi-truck accident that happened in Pemiscot County, Missouri on Thursday, March 5th, 2015. Official Highway Patrol reports said that the accident happened around 3:05 Thursday afternoon.
57-year-old Charles White was taken to the hospital after he was hit by a semi-truck while trying to pull stuck cars from the median of Interstate 55 just south of Hayti, Missouri. Authorities believe that White was attempting to hook up a stuck car when he was hit by the 18-wheeler, along with the struck car.
White was taken by helicopter to Elvis Presley Medical Center where an update on his condition was immediately unavailable.
Missouri State Highway Patrol officials handled the accident investigation.
Scene of the Accident
View of the Road
Commentary:
Police have said that the victim was doing his job, trying to free a stuck vehicle from the median when he was hit by a semi truck. This makes me wonder right off the bat if the semi-truck that hit the victim was even on the road, given that the stuck vehicle was in the median. The news said that the road was covered in snow at the time of the accident. Is it possible that the truck driver simply couldn’t see where the lanes began and ended with the paint on the road blanketed in ice and slush? The report also mentioned that the truck driver may have “lost control” of the truck, but is that really an excuse? When a dog walker “loses control” of a vicious dog, it may not have been intentional, but it sure was preventable, and I see the same reasoning with tractor-trailer accidents. If the semi-truck drove off the road and hit this man while he was trying to help people, then the trucking company that decided to put somebody who felt they could operate and 80,000 lb truck without seeing the lanes behind the wheel needs to be put in the uncomfortable position of answering for their decision. Losing control of a truck just tells me that they were driving too fast on snowy roads, and these kinds of accidents only serve to underline the need for these companies to be more careful. Unfortunately, nothing seems to get these companies to change until the legal aspect comes into play.
— Grossman Law Offices
