Semi-Truck Jackknifes & Crashes, Injuring Misty Adkins and Brady Gragg in Topeka

Topeka, KS — A woman and a man in a stopped car were injured on I-70 outside of Topeka after a semi-truck jackknifed and hit them. Misty Adkins, 41, and Brady Gragg, 36, were identified as the victims and this accident happened at about 9:30 a.m. on Thursday morning of last week, May 7, 2015. It should be noted that it was raining at the time of the accident. A semi-truck driven by Cynthia Grant was headed east along I-70 that morning near Eagle Ridge Lane when she came upon a disabled car and that was in the center shoulder.

Grant swerved to avoid hitting the car (which doesn’t make sense, if it was on the shoulder, but the news may have gotten that detail wrong) and jackknifed her semi-truck, causing the trailer to swing out.

The trailer of the semi then hit the back of Misty Adkins’ Dodge Avenger, which was parked on the other shoulder of I-70. As it turned out, Adkins and Gragg had come to help the first disabled car when the semi-truck lost control and hit them.

Both Adkins and Gragg were taken to hospitals, but it’s not clear how badly they were hurt.

So far, this accident still needs to be investigated and it’s not clear if Grant (the truck driver) will face charges here.

Jump to commentary below…

Map of the Accident

Commentary:

The trucking company here can blame the accident on that disabled car ’til they’re blue in the face, but it sounds a lot like the semi-truck here was going too fast for the rainy conditions and lost control, if you ask me. What kind of implications does that have here, for this accident? Well, anytime a truck driver makes an error this big, and people are injured or killed, their employer typically gathers up their legal defense team and goes to work building a case that defends their driver from any lawsuits or claims.

The reason is simple: they have a lot to lose and most people don’t understand much about litigation beyond a phone call to their insurance adjuster or perhaps disputing a few claims with Allstate. With that in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if the trucking company here tried to pawn off the blame for the accident on the weather or even another car.

The best defense in these situations, as I’m fond of saying, is a good offense. Having a solid, third-party investigation done helps lay the groundwork for holding the right people accountable in an accident where someone’s negligence was a factor. If you know how to gather and present the evidence to a jury, you can do some legal arm-twisting to make the trucking company own up to their driver’s actions. In a perfect world, of course, people would just take responsibility for their mistakes, but that’s not the case, so the litigation process exists. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that the trucking company will “play fair” or offer any kind of leverage to you, they have their own financial interests in mind. Again, the best strategy is to have a solid investigation done ASAP to get to the bottom of things and start collecting evidence.

 
— Grossman Law Offices