A fatal chain-reaction crash recently occurred in Wayne Township. The Ohio investigators initially suspect that the driver of a dump truck hit one vehicle, and the force of the impact sent the dump truck into another vehicle. One woman lost her life in the car accidents.
At about 2:30 p.m., the driver of the dump truck was heading west on State Route 73, and he was approaching an intersection. At the interstate, the dump truck collided with a pickup truck that was traveling south. It is not immediately clear if the dump truck driver may have been distracted while driving, and it is also unclear whether the officers suspect drugs or alcohol to have played a part in the accidents as well.
The impact with the pickup truck forced the dump truck to drift and collide with a second vehicle, which caused that vehicle to roll over onto its roof in the nearby ditch. The driver of the pickup truck was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and the passenger in the truck was transported to an area hospital and is in an unknown condition. The driver of the dump truck and the second vehicle were both treated for injuries and released.
It is unclear whether the dump truck driver will face criminal charges at this time because the car accidents are still under investigation. However, if the family of the pickup truck driver chooses to do so, they could begin forming an Ohio wrongful death suit against the dump truck driver. Additionally, the passenger may want to file a personal injury suit as well. If the suits are successful, the parties could receive monetary compensation for the damages suffered.
Source: wcpo.com, “Wayne Township vehicle accident leaves one dead“, Feb. 13, 2015