Wheaton, MO — Police said that two people, the driver and passenger, in a trash truck were injured earlier this month in Wheaton after they were in a wreck. The accident happened on Tuesday, March 14, 2015 and the victims were identified as Travis Arnold, 42, and Jimmy Rainbolt, 40.
The accident happened when Arnold’s trash truck lost control on Highway 76. However, there hasn’t been a lot of information surrounding this so far.
The State Highway Patrol reported that this happened about 5 miles south of Wheaton at 11:00 a.m. in the morning, Tuesday, April 14, 2015. Travis Arnold was driving north along the highway with Rainbolt as his passenger when he lost control and veered off the side of the highway.
His truck then crashed into a fence, where it overturned and came to a stop. Rainbolt was only slightly injured, but Travis Arnold was rushed to a Springfield hospital to be treated for serious injuries.
As of the end of April, it’s still not clear why Arnold’s trash truck lost control.
Map of Wheaton
Commentary:
Not many details about this wreck are given in the police report I was looking at, but I noticed almost nobody mentioned the possibility that something may have gone wrong with this trash truck. I’m talking about mechanical issues or malfunctions that might cause an operator to lose control and crash.
Obviously, there’s no information yet to support claims of product failure, but it’s something that should at least be considered, if not only to rule it out. Too many truck drivers are blamed for accidents like these when, really, it’s the unsafe machines they’re driving that are the problem.
— Grossman Law Offices
