I often focus on driving safety and on how you can be a safer driver. I write about keeping our Kentucky roadways safer. How you can avoid serious automobile accidents is another topic I blog on.  A tragic and unfortunate accident last weekend reminds me that there are also auto accidents that occur after your car breaks down. Traffic accidents occur while a vehicle is disabled on the road.  Visibility is a key factor in your safety after a car breaks down. 

David Meredith and Omar Lopez were killed after they were hit by a pickup truck on Washburn Avenue in rural Jefferson County, Kentucky.  This accident occurred after Meredith and Lopez’s vehicle had been in a minor rear-end collision on Washburn Avenue.  Apparently the men were standing behind their truck after the accident and blocking the taillights. This made it difficult for the vehicle coming from behind to see the car in the road.  Additionally there was fog in the area. This made visibility even more of an issue.

 Any time you’re on the road visibility is something you should be aware of.  This is the case whether you are a pedestrian, a bicyclist, or a disabled motorist.  You need to make yourself visible.  Bicyclists have reflectors and bright-colored jerseys that some would say make us look ridiculous.  Runners wear vests to make them more visible if they are jogging on the road in the early or late hours of the day.  The occupants of a disabled vehicle need to take precautions to make that car visible on the roadway.  Reflective triangles should be placed behind the car. You can purchase them at almost any automotive store. They should always be used.  Emergency flashers should be turned on.  Do anything you can do to make yourself more visible.  If you do not take these precautions drivers coming up on the accident scene or on you may not have a chance to avoid a tragic accident.

            A few years ago I represented a truck driver in what I would call a freak accident.  A semi tractor-trailer was traveling down I-65 south near Shepherdsville.  The trailer came loose from the tractor and came to a stop in the middle southbound lane of I-65 in Bullitt County, Kentucky.  When the trailer came off there was no power going to the lights on the back of the trailer.  Additionally no reflective tape was on the trailer.  The driver had no triangles or flares to put behind him.  He attempted to get the trailer re-connected to the tractor. 

My client was driving a tractor-trailer and also headed south on I-65.  He stated to me that he was driving along and he knew something was different but it just looked like there was nothing there.  He compared it to a black hole.  By the time he realized that there was a trailer stopped in the middle lane of the expressway he had no chance and slammed into the back of the disabled trailer.  A passerby pulled him out of his flaming truck.  Tragically the other driver was killed as he was between his tractor and trailer at the time.  My client had hit his trailer. This tragic truck accident could have been avoided had emergency flashers, flares or reflective triangles been used. Unfortunately, none of this equipment was even in the truck.

            I bring this up because you never know what is going to happen on the highway.  You need to be cautious and careful at all times.  I represented a client that had just been in a rear end collision. As he was walking back to the driver’s side of his car another car came flying by. Luckily his front door was open and he jumped into the front seat to avoid being hit. Any disabled motorist, whether it be from a traffic automobile accident, a motorcycle accident, a truck accident, or simply a blown rod in your engine, must make themselves visible on the road.  Take precautionary measures to make yourself visible to traffic.

·        Make sure your car lights are on

·        Place reflective triangles out behind the disabled vehicle

·        Place flares behind the vehicle

·        Get yourself off the roadway

·        Wait for emergency assistance to come to your assistance. 

If you take preventive measures you can keep from becoming a statistic. You can avoid a tragic motor vehicle accident. In this way you will be able to avoid the tragedy that happened last weekend on Washburn Avenue.