Marshfield, MO — A woman from Republic, 46-year old Jennifer Orman, was injured earlier in March of this year after her car was rear-ended by a semi-truck on the I-44 shoulder. This happened on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 and police identified the truck driver involved as Gregory Ross, 58, of St. Louis.
In their report, they said that the accident happened around 12:45 p.m. in the afternoon, just outside of Marshfield. Jennifer Orman had been driving her car (a Chevy Impala) west along I-44 that day when something went wrong and she had to pull onto the shoulder and park.
As Orman was sitting on the shoulder, Gregory Ross lost control of his semi-truck in the westbound lanes and swerved off the road, hitting Orman’s parked car from behind.
The impact did major damage to her car and Jennifer Orman had to be taken via ambulance to a Springfield hospital for serious injuries. So far, it’s not clear if the truck driver here, Ross, faced any charges for the accident.
Map of Marshfield
Commentary:
Just on the off-chance that there’s something here the news missed, I did a little research on this accident and the driver because I really think that swerving off a major interstate in a big semi-truck is more than just a “little mistake” like the news seems to imply.
If the information from the Missouri State Highway Patrol is correct, it appears that this driver might have a few things on his criminal record, some of which are traffic-related. I won’t pretend to have information that I don’t, but doesn’t that raise some red flags for people? Did anyone look into this truck driver and his history (as well as his company’s history) and see if maybe something else could’ve contributed to the accident?
For example, if youe car is T-boned at 2:30 a.m. in an accident and it turns out the driver who hit you has a history of DWIs, that means the investigation into things will probably change, right? It’s the same principle here. Given the possibility that there’s something here we’re not seeing, it would be wise to leave no stone unturned. Why exactly did this trucker fail to maintain his lane? Was he paying attention? Had he fallen asleep at the wheel? These are all valid fact patterns that I’ve dealt with in my career, so you can understand why I’m a little surprised when I see a truck driver swerve off a major interstate, crashed into a parked car, and then have no charges filed by police.
— Grossman Law Offices
