Personal Injury Law

Lawrence County Missouri Police Searching for Semi Truck That Hit Car and Ran

By Jeffrey Lowe

Authorities in Lawrence County, Missouri, are still searching for a truck whose driver allegedly pushed another car into traffic, news station KY3 in Springfield reported Sept. 3. The station said the incident may have been caused by ?road rage? on the part of the truck?s driver. According to the article, the victim?s car was stopped at the intersection of Missouri 39 and Missouri 96, waiting for traffic to clear, with the truck behind it. Allegedly, the truck driver intentionally hit the car?s bumper several times, then pushed the car into oncoming traffic on the road and drove away. Fortunately, the car was not hit, and its driver and all four child passengers were not hurt.

KY3.com has more in a video report:

Witness Tracy Daugherty said she hopes authorities can find the driver and take away his or her commercial driver?s license, because ?If he?s going to do this to one person, he?s going to continue to do this.? In fact, authorities are actively searching for the truck and its driver and are asking the public for help. The truck has a black or dark blue tractor unit with ?C&L Trucking? on its door. It was pulling a white colored grain huller bed. Authorities were originally given license plate number 1255CL, but now believe that number is incorrect; the plate is likely to have a similar number. Anyone with information should call Detective Chris Berry at the Lawrence County Sheriff?s Department at (417) 466-2131 or send email to cberry@lawrencecosheriff.com.

As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident attorney, I agree with Daugherty that this truck driver displayed extremely poor judgment. If the article is correct that the trucker hit the car intentionally, everyone involved is lucky that the accident wasn?t more serious. Because of their size and weight, trucks can crush cars in a collision. And because their bumpers tend to be much higher than the bumpers on cars, trucks tend to exert that strong force at the head and torso levels of the people sitting inside the car. That means even a slow-speed accident between a car and a truck can cause deaths and serious injuries. Causing this type of accident on purpose is an incredibly bad idea, at best; running away afterward makes the incident a crime. As a St. Louis big rig accident attorney, I would not be sorry to see this driver?s commercial license taken away if all the facts reported here are true.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on September 18, 2009 (boomark / email).