Blacksburg, South Carolina. — A man repairing his pickup truck at a Love’s truck stop was killed by a semi-truck on Wednesday in Blacksburg.
According to police reports, John Vanslytman was repairing his pickup truck and standing on a stepladder in the truck stop’s parking lot when a semi-truck maneuvering into the parking lot struck him. Vanslytman was pinned between the pickup truck he was working on and the large rig. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No further details have been provided.
Thoughts on Semi-truck Accidents in parking lots
Parking lots are full of pedestrians and cars moving and maneuvering from every angle; this is why truck drivers must drive through these areas with extreme caution. Failure to do so can cause a catastrophic incident like the one above.
While we do not have all the details regarding what led to this terrible accident, we know that trucks should never slam into people in parking lots and that large trucks fatally striking pedestrians are a problem since 622 large truck fatalities in 2020 were pedestrians and nonoccupants related(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). These types of accidents are happening at an alarming rate.
Regarding this accident, trained professionals will need to investigate why the semi-truck hit the man who was repairing his vehicle in the parking lot. Was the driver distracted? Speeding? Was the driver inexperienced in properly maneuvering turns and driving in confined spaces? If so, the driver must be held accountable for their actions that took an innocent person’s life.
In addition, the trucking company will also have to answer questions to see if they share any partial blame for this accident. Did the company train the trucker to maneuver a semi in smaller, dense areas? Did the company do its due diligence on hiring a safe driver by having rigorous guidelines its employees had to pass before proving they were safe drivers? Are its trucks optimized for safety, with adequately installed mirrors for blind spots and crash avoidance sensors? If the trucking company failed to do any of these actions, they could also share fault for the deceased person in this tragic accident.
May all the facts continue to come out, and may the victim’s family receive the answers and justice they so rightfully deserve.
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The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation, with extensive experience in complex auto/tire defect and commercial vehicle cases.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
