Kook Oh Killed in Accident with Reversing 18-Wheeler on Service Ramp in Alvarado, Texas

According to the Star-Telegram, a Dallas man was killed in an accident involving an 18-wheeler in Alvarado, Texas. The wreck occurred around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 14 when 69-year-old Kook Oh struck the rear of an 18-wheeler along the service road of Interstate 35W. Alvarado police believe the truck driver missed the ramp leading to the interstate and was backing the trailer along the road to get onto the ramp when Oh struck the trailer. The accident remains under investigation.

Site of the Accident


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Commentary
So instead of simply continuing on the service road until the next ramp, the truck driver decides to back up on the roadway to use the entrance ramp. I'm struggling to find any scenario that this would be advisable. But not only is it ill-advised, it is downright dangerous in my opinion. To begin to deconstruct the accident from a liability perspective, a third party investigation should be used to start to identify civil strategies moving forward.
Normally, 18-wheeler accidents include at least two parties to a lawsuit, due to agency law. Certainly most understand the actions of the trucker played a key role in the accident, and as such, probably allow that person to incur some fault. Agency law however, and namely a doctrine found within the law called respondeat superior, will include an employer to a lawsuit. Quite literally translated from Latin to mean "let the master answer," respondeat superior holds an employer accountable for the actions of their employees. As long as the employee was acting within the normal course and scope of their employment, respondeat superior and agency law may apply, potentially naming an employer to a lawsuit. This naming then allows for discovery of the defendant, something that I'd wager is probably a dangerous vulnerability for this trucking company. For me, the question becomes why did this trucker feel the need to take this risk on the roadway? So what if he missed the entrance ramp, I35 is a massive highway with plenty of on-ramps. Certainly I'm speculating here, but handling these types of cases in the past have produced some rather disparaging results. Results like a trucking company that failed to train their staff, encouraging overhauling, encouraging log book infractions, etc. have all been found. This is not a shot at the trucking industry, but rather an attempt to clean up the industry by clearing out unsafe entities, hopefully preventing accidents.

Fort Worth 18-Wheeler Accident Attorney Michael Grossman