Lincoln, NE — This past Tuesday (May 19, 2015) there was a serious wreck several miles south of Lincoln that left three people injured and a semi-truck driver facing charges. Police said that Rebecca Hagemeier, 29, Jeff Hawks, 33, and Phillip Ozenbaugh, 37, were all injured after their cars were rear-ended by semi-truck driver Nathan Quigley.
This accident I’m talking about happened on Tuesday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. along U.S. 77.
Police said that Nathan Quigley was driving his semi-truck south along U.S. 77 that afternoon and apparently wasn’t paying attention to traffic in front of him when he rear-ended several cars that were stopped at the red light for Saltillo Road.
His semi-truck hit the back of Rebecca Hagemeier’s car, pushing it into the other vehicles and causing a major wreck. At the last update, Hagemeier, Ozenbaugh, and Hawks had all been taken to a hospital to be treated for their injuries, though Hawks and Ozenbaugh were released before Hagemeier.
Police said they don’t think Quigley was under the influence or falling asleep, they suspect he was simply distracted by the camper trailers on the side of the road. More details will hopefully be released later.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
The police have been very blunt here about what they think caused the accident: carelessness. Now, that very well may be the case, but an error in judgement like that isn’t something to ignore. At the very least, I think that this driver ought to be investigated to make sure he was qualified to be behind the wheel in the first place. The bottom line is that professional truckers are held to a higher standard of excellence, so we need to take steps to make sure they are held accountable when accidents do