Pike County, Kentucky Semi-Truck Accident Kills Two Pedestrians
Two people were killed in the Pike County community of Mouthcard, Kentucky when a tractor-trailer hit them while they were walking.
Police say that they have conducted a preliminary investigation of the accident, which happened this morning. They say it appears that the tractor may have had a mechanical problem which caused the driver to lose control of the truck. The truck driver apparently turned to avoid hitting a building and hit the two pedestrians instead.
Shawn Cantley, a Kentucky injury attorney provides our legal analysis (for attorney profile and contact info, click here):
From a legal perspective, as a general rule, a mechanical failure would not amount to negligence on the part of the driver. As a result, there would be no recovery available against the trucking company or its insurer for the victims. However, if the mechanical failure was foreseeable (for example, if it resulted from a failure to properly maintain the vehicle), then the owner of the truck would be legally responsible for the deaths of the pedestrians. In a case like this, involving fatalities, the truck should be preserved in its current state and an independent accident reconstruction, including a complete mechanical analysis, should be done immediately.
