Truck Driver Died When He Was Struck By a Vehicle in a Hit-and-Run Incident, Michigan

SUMMARY

In summer 2014, a male truck driver owner/operator in his 50s died when he was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run incident after pulling his northbound 2005 International Tractor semi-truck with a box style attached empty trailer over to the right shoulder of a dry, 4-lane lane expressway with a posted speed limit of 70 mph. The roadway was unlit and curved slightly to the west. Paved shoulders were present on both sides of the expressway. The decedent had been on his cell phone with his spouse when he told her that another vehicle driver motioned to him that there was a problem with the trailer’s tail lights. He told her that he was going to pull over to check his tail lights because he did not want to get a ticket. The decedent exited the freeway to the right shoulder, parking his semi and trailer fully on the shoulder. He was not wearing a high visibility vest. Leaving the tractor unit running and prior to exiting the tractor cab, he activated the hazard lights. The hazard lights were operational and the tractor’s front headlights were lit. While either walking back to or returning from the back of the trailer near the fog line near the rear of the trailer on the roadway side, he was struck by the passenger side of an oncoming car. Passing motorists found him lying face down in the roadway between the two right lanes, just north of his semi-truck. Police found his left shoe wedged under the driver’s side front rear trailer tire (the trailer had two rear axles). The tractor cab was not equipped with a forward-facing camera.

Truck Driver Died When He Was Struck By a Vehicle in a Hit-and-Run Incident, Michigan [PDF 652 KB]