A nearly 80-year-old trucker was killed in a crash with a parked semi truck on Tuesday, just over one year after being cited for a similar incident that sparked a lawsuit.
The fatal crash happened on Tuesday, November 15th in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. The initial lawsuit incident happened in May of 2021.
According to Fox 2, 79-year-old George Dickey was driving along Interstate 70 just before Interstate 64 when he encountered another rig parked on the shoulder and crashed into the back of it. Investigators say the driver of the parked semi truck was resting in the sleeper berth at the time of the crash and was not hurt. Dickey died in the crash.
“That location right there was just before an exit ramp, a big, wide shoulder. There was plenty of room there (to pull over and sleep) but it is not something we encourage people to do,” said Cpl. Thompson, who investigated the crash. “For some unknown reason at this point in time, a second tractor-trailer drove onto the shoulder and struck it from behind.”
“He was an older gentleman. We’ll have to wait and see until the medical reports come back as far as could he have been suffering some type of medical emergency at the time of the incident … he had a valid commercial driver’s license. He was licensed to drive that vehicle he was operating. It was just a tragic crash.”
Authorities say that Dickey was involved in another crash just 25 miles east of the fatal wreck back in May of 2021. Documents show that Dickey was cited for “changing lanes when movement could not be made safely, resulting in an accident” with another vehicle.
For reasons that are not clear, the citation was later amended to a parking violation in February of 2022. Dickey agreed to pay a fine and court costs totaling $225. Three months later, the two people in the other vehicle involved in the accident filed a lawsuit against Dickey and his employer. They accused both Dickey and the company of negligence, claiming that Dickey caused their vehicle to overturn, injuring them both.
The St. Charles County Counselor’s Office did not offer a clear explanation as to why Dickey’s charges were amended, but did offer the following statement:
“While we can’t comment on any particular case in reviewing tickets involving accidents it is common practice for the prosecutor to review and consider whether restitution has been provided, whether any individuals were transported from the scene and whether there are conflicting statements within the police report in order to determine how the ticket will be disposed.”