PETTIS, MO — Daniel Dekeyser was identified by police as the driver that died in an accident with a semi-truck in Pettis, Missouri on Monday, January 12th, 2015. Official Highway Patrol reports said that the accident happened at 6:44 Monday morning.
54-year-old Daniel Dekeyser was fatally injured when the Mazda 626 he was pushing and an 18-wheeler collided while driving on Highway 50. Authorities said that Dekeyser and a pedestrian were hurt when the disabled vehicle they were pushing was hit by a Kenworth tractor-trailer.
Dekeyser was killed in the accident.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to the scene of the crash along with Pettis County deputies.
Scene of the Accident
View of the Road
Commentary:
If everything I’ve read about this accident is accurate, then the driver of the tractor-trailer has a lot of questions to answer as to how this accident happened. If the victim was helping another person push a disabled car, then how did the truck driver fail to both see, and avoid the collision with the car? Truck drivers are supposed to maintain a speed and following distance in order to allow themselves enough room to stop in the event of an accident. If the truck driver came up on a car that was moving as quickly as two men could push it, and still failed to avoid the accident, something tells me that the truck driver’s eyes may not have even been on the road. This is one accident where I’d be taking a long, hard look at the truck driver’s cell phone and any other electronic device that may have grabbed his attention while he was operating an 80,000 lb truck with his eyes off the road.
— Grossman Law Offices
