A two-year-old boy died in a recent truck accident that also inflicted injuries on both his parents and on his 8-year-old brother. The truck accident occurred at a highway bypass intersection on a weekday morning and involved a semi-truck driven by a 42-year-old male trucker from Aurora, Missouri.
That truck, owned by a poultry company, allegedly failed to stop when a red light was encountered, hitting a 2008 Toyota Sienna driven by the boy’s 32-year-old mother. It was the left side of the van that the semi plowed into in the intersection.
All four occupants of the van were wearing required seat belts or were secured in child safety restraints at the time of the crash, according to authorities. All four family members, including the 27-year-old father, were rushed to the hospital by emergency responders for treatment of their injuries. The 2-year-old was subsequently moved to another facility by air, and though medical personnel struggled to save his life, he died there.
The traffic lights at the intersection were only installed four years ago after several traffic accidents resulting in fatalities had occurred at the location, replacing warnings lights previously utilized there. As the current accident shows, however, the presence of traffic lights cannot prevent an accident when a reckless truck driver ignores them.
The truck driver himself was not injured in the collision. So far, he has been given only a citation for failing to yield the right of way, but the investigation into the causes of the accident is still ongoing. A truck accident resulting in the loss of a tiny child is a horrible thing that shakes up all who learn of it and an unfathomable continuing tragedy for a family. Lawsuits for wrongful death and personal injury can both provide some compensation for the victims but also hopefully help deter the kind of conduct that causes such accidents.
Source: Times Herald Online, “Accident kills child, family injured” Nate Smith, Nov. 12, 2013