Sadly, it’s not news when a truck driver dies. At least it’s not news to most truck drivers. But what happened on Wednesday, December 5th puts a devastating new spin on truck driver deaths. A young trucker was walking through the Jane Lew Truck Stop and was run over by a rig that had just entered the lot.

I learned of the tragedy on the Twisted Truckers page on Facebook. Initially, I saw the altered image of a truck driving upward toward heaven. That was unusual. Then I read the text and discovered the horrific truth. The last sentence of the post read: “Everyone needs to slow down in these truck stops and pay more attention to everything and everyone around you.”

A follow-up post on Twisted Truckers, a day or two after the tragedy, showed a picture of a set of truck keys, which the author said belonged to the deceased driver. She said the driver had a wife and children who now had to spend the holidays without him. She said she can think of no reason that anyone should be traveling fast enough through a truck stop to kill someone.

Details unknown

I asked my friend Tony if he had heard any of the details. He stops at Jane Lew frequently when he’s passing through West Virginia on his way back from the Carolinas. He later told me that he talked to a waitress at the truck stop’s restaurant. She said the truck in question came barreling into the lot and ran over the victim with all five axles.

How exactly the calamity happened, I don’t know. No doubt an investigation has started that will look at all the possible angles and answer key questions, such as:

• Was the truck travelling at too high a rate of speed?
• Was hitting the victim unavoidable? (Were his clothes too dark to see? Was he wearing reflective clothing or carrying a flashlight?)
• Is it possible that the driver was unaware that he hit the victim?

This last question might seem odd to those who are unfamiliar with transport trucks. Picture a tractor-trailer that could weigh up to 80,000 pounds if the trailer is carrying maximum weight. Then you’ll understand how a driver might not feel the impact of hitting a 200-pound moving object. Of course this doesn’t take into account the fact that every truck has headlights and its driver should, in theory, be able to see a person before hitting them, if the driver is going suitably slow enough.

We may never know if the victim was watching for incoming trucks.

Even the best words won’t solve anything

It’s tough to write an article like this because I want to avoid sounding callous or insensitive. I think I’m being careful enough with my wording. I’ve certainly done a fair bit of revising, with possibly more to come. I’m painfully aware that a young man – apparently 25 years old – died, right before Christmas no less. That’s incalculably horrible for his family and friends. I certainly don’t want to sound preachy or like I know better than others how to avoid such a tragedy. I also wonder if anything I say might make the slightest difference. Lastly, I wonder how long it takes before I hear of another senseless trucking tragedy.

All truckers understand that nasty things can happen when you cram dozens of tractor-trailers into a confined space. Every driver must concern themselves with their personal safety and the safety of their vehicle. This means driving slowly and carefully through any truck stop, parking lot or roadside rest area, extra especially on pitch dark winter nights.

In my nearly two years of driving, I’ve made about 300 visits to truck stops. I’ve only been to the Jane Lew truck stop once and didn’t care for it because, like far too many stops, it was too busy.

Most of the drivers I’ve seen are particularly careful as they navigate through truck stops and roadside rest areas. They are careful in the fuel aisles, cautious in the parking area, and vigilant in their entries and exits. I’ve yet to see anything more than a minor fender bender and a small sign knocked over. I’ve never seen a person come close to getting hit by a truck.

I’ve heard of unattended trucks being dented and the at fault driver of another truck fleeing the scene and leaving the other driver to return from their meal or shower, only to find their damaged vehicle. Sooner or later I’m bound to be present for one of these incidents. I know it will happen.

See and be seen

What I have seen is numerous drivers walking through truck stop parking lots completely oblivious to traffic. Often these drivers are wearing dark clothing. Sometimes they have on a hoodie with the hood up over their head. I rarely see any of them carrying a flash light or wearing reflective clothing. Many of these drivers are slow enough on foot in the first place. They often don’t appear, to me at least, to be either willing or able to move quickly.

Yet none of this is an excuse for a truck driving anywhere near them. The onus is always on the moving vehicle to slow down and stop. Plus, they have headlights and, if necessary, fog lights and high beams.

In the case of this tragedy, I come to an impasse in my reasoning: a truck driver who was possibly driving too fast hit a pedestrian that he seemingly didn’t see, who was walking near the entrance and may not have been watching for incoming trucks.

I guess that’s why someone created the word ‘unfortunate.’

Jogger, dog walker, flashlight carrier

I take you to my weekends where I am home and away from my truck. I’m an avid dog walker and jogger. I’m outside a lot, including on dark nights in dimly lit areas. When I’m walking my little white dog, I always carry a flashlight and turn it on when I cross busy intersections. When I jog, I also carry a flashlight and wear a safety vest on top of my bright yellow jacket. Whether I’m crossing an intersection or parking lot entrance, I keep a careful eye out for cars and unaware drivers. There are plenty of them.

I stop routinely at green lights for cars that should have stopped for me but didn’t until they were already into the intersection and saw me frantically waving my arms at curbside. Sometimes the look on driver’s faces, once they realize they cut me off, is one of surprise and regret.

Too many walkers and joggers I see neither wear reflective clothing nor carry a flashlight or head lamp. I’ve also come across too many cyclists that I didn’t see until they were a few feet away from me, because they didn’t have a light or reflective device on them. I have no idea whether or not they see me. They certainly don’t try hard enough to avoid me.

In my trucking life: I never cross a busy truck stop or roadside rest area after dusk without my flashlight. It’s on and I’m watching carefully for any truck that may not see me. If one gets too close, I point the flashlight at the dash.

Ultimately…

I have no details of the tragedy that happened at Jane Lew. I don’t want to speculate on who might have been at fault or partially culpable, despite any possibly obvious clues. I feel horrible for the young man who lost his life and for his grieving family and friends. I also feel terrible for the driver that hit him. Surely that driver is now suffering from great distress.

In cases such as this – as with any fatality – we wish that we could simply turn back the clock to 30 or so seconds before the time it happened and relive the scenario in a profoundly safe and problem-free way.

I just wish that we didn’t have to wish this.

RIP driver. I see your name was Matthew. I’m so sorry this happened to you. God damn it, I’d bring you back to earlier that Wednesday if I could. If only I could.