MSP: Truck driver used his rig as a “weapon” when he stopped “paying attention” to the road 

Michigan State Police say that a double fatal crash was the fault of an inattentive truck driver on Interstate 696 on Thursday. 

The accident happened on June 23rd in Farmington Hills, Michigan at 10:15 a.m.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, a semi truck failed to stop for construction on westbound I-696 at the split between I-96 and I-275. Officers say that the driver did not stop in time and crashed into the back of a Buick stopped on the 96 side of the split, hit two other cars, and then jackknifed. 

Two people in the Buick, a 72-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman, were killed instantly in the wreck. Two more people in the two other cars were injured, but did not sustain injuries considered to be life threatening. The truck driver was not reported to have sustained any injuries. 

First responders report that the backset of the car was so crumpled in the wreck that it was hard to tell if any passengers were back there. 

“If the semi-truck driver would have been paying attention or allowed safe distance in front of him, we wouldn’t be talking,” said MSP Lt. Michael Shaw.

“When you get behind the wheel of the car, it’s the same thing as being behind the trigger of a gun. You are responsible,” Shaw said. “That vehicle is a weapon.”

The truck driver, who has not been identified, was taken to a nearby MSP post for an interview and a blood draw. It is not clear what charges, if any, he will face. No further information has been released.