June 15th, 2010 | 
Author: HERCULANEUM, MO – A chain reaction truck accident killed two people and injured three others Wednesday afternoon, June 2, 2010, in Jefferson County, Missouri. The deadly collision occurred on Interstate 55 at McNutt Road near the city of Herculaneum and would involve a total of eight vehicles. The accident area is on the eastern edge of the state, south of the St. Louis metro region near the Mississippi River, about 187 miles north of Blytheville, Arkansas and about 37 miles west of Waterloo, Illinois.
Missouri Highway Patrol and the Herculaneum Fire Department responded to the scene of the multi vehicle truck accident. They found the Focus almost completely destroyed, the Fire Captain saying that “It looked like scrap metal.”
At around 12:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon 32 year old Jay L. Valentine of Huntsville, Texas was driving a semi trailer truck north in the right lane of Interstate 55 in Jefferson County, Missouri. According to local authorities, when Mr. Valentine reached the area near McNutt Road he took his eyes off the interstate traffic.
One trooper with the Missouri State Patrol stated “He said he looked to the right for some reason, and looked back.”
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When the truck driver looked back he saw that the line of traffic in front of his 18 wheeler was stopping. He was unable to slow down or stop to avoid a collision, but swerved, hitting a Chevrolet Impala. The semi truck then drove over a 2005 Ford Focus and dragged the car almost hundred yards down the interstate. The driver of the Focus was identified as 52 year old Charles A. Martin of Perryville, MO.
After dragging the Focus, the truck driver then swerved again and caused a chain reaction crash that involved five more vehicles, including a Pontiac Vibe driven by 28 year old Alana D. McKnight of Fergus, MO.
Missouri Highway Patrol and the Herculaneum Fire Department responded to the scene of the multi vehicle truck accident. They found the Focus almost completely destroyed, the Fire Captain saying that “It looked like scrap metal.”
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Mr. Martin, the driver of the Focus, suffered fatal injuries and was killed almost instantly in the truck accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ms. McKnight, the driver of the Vibe, was trapped in her car and firefighters had to extricate her by cutting through the vehicle’s roof and driver’s side door. Once free, Ms. McKnight was barely conscious, responding to her name only. She was transported by medical helicopter to St. Louis University Hospital. However, her injuries proved too severe and she died several hours after the truck accident.
Three other people injured in the truck accident were treated and stabilized at the scene and then taken to a local hospital. The truck driver was not injured.
Traffic on the section of the interstate around the truck accident scene, already slowed due to road construction, experienced additional delays as MHP shut down two northbound lanes and one southbound lane. Emergency personnel aided the victims and officers reconstructed the chain reaction collision while highway crews worked to removing the wreckage and debris of the fatal crash and clear the lanes for travel.
According to Missouri Highway Patrol the reconstruction report on the truck accident is expected to take several weeks to complete, at which point charges will be considered against the truck driver.
For more information about Missouri trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact nationwide truck accident lawyers Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP for expert advice. For a free initial consultation, talk to a MO truck accident lawyer at 800.773.6770.
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