Vanceburg, KY — On Tuesday of this week, September 15, a mother and her two children were sent to a hospital out in Vanceburg after they were injured in a semi-truck accident. Police said that a semi-truck rear-ended a car on Highway 9 and left Joyce Cooley, 40, Matthew Cooley, 9, and Abigayle Cooley, 13, with injuries that required a hospital visit.
The news said that Abigayle and Matthew’s injuries were more serious than Joyce Cooley’s. This happened around 8:00 p.m. in the evening.
The accident happened west of Vanceburg along Highway 9. The Cooleys were in a Hyundai that was being driven west on Highway 9 by 44-year old Davey White. As they came to the intersection with Kentucky 989, the Hyundai slowed to a stop and prepared to make a left turn.
Unfortunately, a semi-truck that was also headed west failed to see the Hyundai in time and rear-ended it, pushing it off the road and onto the shoulder. Paramedics were called and two different helicopters took the Cooley children to a West Virginia hospital while Joyce Cooley was taken via ambulance to an Ohio hospital.
Davey White was only slightly hurt and didn’t need to go to the hospital.
The truck driver who hit the Hyundai was later identified as 38-year-old Vladimir Cadjo, from Richmond, VA. He may be facing charges for this wreck, but that’s not clear yet.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
I really can’t believe what I’m reading here, because it seems like this trucker just wasn’t paying attention that evening and that this entire ordeal was preventable. In other words, this wasn’t one of those accidents that simply couldn’t have been avoided, no, if this trucker had been paying attention, he could have easily braked in time.
If I had to guess what happened here, I’d say that since the highway curves around quite a bit near this turnoff, perhaps this trucker was going too fast and wasn’t able to brake when he came around the bend and saw this car.
But, there’s something else my readers should know about. I took the liberty of doing a little research on this trucker and, if the information I have is correct, this driver has a fairly robust criminal record. In fact, it looks like over half of his offenses and arrests were for traffic-related issues. That’s a problem for someone who makes their living as a professional truck driver.
My concern is this: If I was able to find this information from just a few details in the news and my knowledge of the trucking industry, what are we going to find if someone launches a full-blown investigation into this trucker and the company he worked for? Are they going to find that he shouldn’t have been behind the wheel in the first place? That he has a history of accidents?
I wish I could apologize for being a little brazen here, but two young kids were very badly hurt by this driver’s negligence, and I just can’t have too much sympathy for someone who doesn’t watch where they’re going.
— Grossman Law Offices
