The middle of the night can be a scary and dangerous time to be on Missouri roadways. Though there is less traffic at these odd hours, there are numerous other factors that make the roads risky. Tractor-trailer drivers must make it to their destination in a specific amount of time so they must clamber along the dark Interstates to make their deadlines. Truck accidents, like the recent chain-reaction semi accident in Columbia, are not uncommon in these situations.



On June 19 at 12:45 a.m., a semi ran off the road in the westbound lane of Interstate 70. According to a Columbia police officer, the driver hit the concrete barrier on the right side of the road and overcorrected. He then hit the guardrail on the left side of the road, ultimately landing in a ditch. Four semis were traveling close enough behind the first that the drivers did not have time to stop. All five vehicles were damaged and had to be towed away after each leaked fuel that was cleaned up by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Five people — two drivers and three passengers from the first three trucks — were taken to the hospital for injuries. Those in the fourth and fifth trucks were uninjured. Both westbound lanes were blocked until a little after 2 a.m. and were not completely reopened until 6:40 a.m. The officer could not state if intoxicants or fatigue were factors in causing the initial crash.

It is not yet clear what caused the driver of the first truck to go off course. However, his actions appears to have caused a chain-reaction accident, harming other people and resulting in damage to vehicles. It is the right of those seriously injured in Missouri truck accidents to sue the party or parties deemed responsible for any monetary damages sustained. In this accident, workers’ compensation benefits may also apply for any victims who where were injured while working, regardless of fault.

Source: columbiatribune.com, “Chain-reaction crash closes Interstate 70 overnight“, Alan Burdziak, June 19, 2015