Female Tractor-Trailer Driver Killed in Collision Caused by Tow Truck on I-70 in Maryland

8/13/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Female Tractor-Trailer Driver Killed in Collision Caused by Tow Truck on I-70 in Maryland

A female truck driver was killed in a rear-end collision caused by a tow truck driver on the shoulder of I-70 north of Frederick, Maryland (MD), on August 8, 2011. According the Herald-Mail, the woman killed was serving as co-driver of a tractor-trailer and had gotten out of the big rig's cab to do some minor maintenance on her semi when it began overheating. She lost her life when the tow truck driver hit the woman's vehicle from behind and pushed it into her. The impact threw the woman into a guardrail, and her injuries proved fatal.

View a larger map of the South Mountain State Park area of Maryland

As the above map shows, the area where this fatal tow truck-semi crash occurred is deeply rural. Any driver who experiences vehicle trouble along this stretch of I-70 has little option but to pull onto the interstate's shoulder and either attempt a temporary repair or wait for a wrecker. The victim of the crash chose the first option only to be killed by an emergency vehicle whose driver would have been able to provide assistance in nearly every other circumstance.

Highway shoulders are often dangerous places, as demonstrated by several fatal accidents involving tow truck drivers along I-64 in Hampton and Newport News, Virginia (VA), since 2009. Both Maryland and Virginia have move-over laws that require cars and trucks to change lanes or reduce speeds when approaching accident scenes and police officers or emergency responders on the side of the road. The law, sadly, was not enough to provide protection to the MD truck driver.

EJL

Category: Crashes Caused by Trucks

Labels: big rig accident Cooper Frederick MD I-64 I-70 shoulder Maryland fatal crash move-over law rear-end truck collision tow truck driver tractor-trailer driver killed truck maintenance Virginia personal injury attorney wrecker

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling truck wreck cases. Check out our truck accident case results and our free consumer guide on what to do if you get involved in an accident with a commercial truck.

We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Newport News, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

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Female Tractor-Trailer Driver Killed in Collision Caused by Tow Truck on I-70 in Maryland

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