2nd Serious Injury Accident on I-71 Involving Parked Semi Truck In Past 48 Hours
For the second time in the past 48 hours, a semi truck parked on a stretch of Interstate 71 between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, has resulted in a serious injury accident.
This morning, a stalled truck blocking the slow lane of northbound Interstate 71 near mile marker 28 in Henry County was hit by another semi truck. The impact caused one truck to roll into the median and both vehicles to catch fire.
John Hauser of Akron, Ohio, the driver of the northbound vehicle, and his passenger, Jeffrey Booth of Kent, Ohio, were taken to Baptist Hospital Northeast in Louisville. Booth reportedly was in the truck's sleeper berth at the time of the crash. The stalled vehicle was unoccupied at the time.
Just yesterday, Terrance Klein, 36, was was killed when his sport utility vehicle crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer parked on the side of the road late at night on I-71 in Oldham County, Kentucky. The wreck occurred on I-71 North near a rest area at mile marker 13.
Mr. Klein was from LaGrange, according to a report by Oldham County police published in today's Courier-Journal.
Commentary by Shawn Cantley, a Kentucky attorney who represents people injured in trucking accidents:
"It can be difficult, when traveling 65 or 70 miles per hour on an interstate and depending on the lay of the land, to react to a parked or stalled vehicle in time to avoid colliding with it--especially if it's dark outside. That's why there are strict rules that are supposed to be followed with respect to trucks that are stalled or parked on highways. It's impossible to tell from these early reports whether the rules were followed in each of these cases, but that is something that should be investigated."
