Passenger, driver survive
State Police are searching for the driver of an 18-wheeler that ran a car off the road on I-310 last week, causing the vehicle to flip several times and injure the two passengers inside.
The car, a black Ford Taurus, was crushed in the crash. However, both the driver and passenger of the vehicle survived. The two were wearing seat belts, but suffered several broken bones in the accident.
State Police have determined that the accident was a non-contact hit and run and that the driver of the 18-wheeler was at fault.
“The semi came over on the people that were in the other vehicle. When they swerved, their back tires hit the grass and the driver lost control of the vehicle,” Melissa Matey, spokesperson for State Police Troop B, said.
The incident was witnessed by another semi driver who provided State Police with the only objective eyewitness account of what transpired.
“Based on the statement that (the responding trooper) received from the driver, the semi never actually hit the car. It just came over and the driver swerved and that is when they lost control and the car started flipping,” Matey said.
Although it has been determined that the semi did not actually strike the car, Matey said the driver, who did not stop and may not have even known the accident occurred, is still at fault.
“We’ve had investigations where 18-wheelers or semi trucks don’t realize they hit somebody or caused a crash,” she said. “That is not to say they are not at fault, they are still.”
Neither the passengers in the car or the eyewitness could provide any identifying information for the semi that caused the accident.
“We don’t have a tag number or any markings,” Matey said. “They don’t even know what color the semi was.”
Anyone with information on the 18-wheeler that caused the accident should call State Police Troop B at (504) 471-2775.
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