Good Samaritan Killed in Tragic Accident With Semi Truck

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As a Seattle personal injury lawyer working at a Redmond motorcycle accident law firm I know that when we see someone in trouble it is our first reaction to try and help. Being a good samaritan is something that comes naturally to a lot of people, but sometimes lending a helping hand can be dangerous and end up leading to a tragic auto accident.

Wednesday night a good samaritan and the woman that he was trying to help were killed when they were hit by a semi truck on State Route 18. The driver of the car, a 65-year-old man from Snoqualmie, pulled off on the shoulder of SR 18 when he saw a woman on the side of the road flagging him down. The 47-year-old woman was riding in her boyfriend’s truck when it broke down and she started walking to try and find help. After picking up the woman, whose name has not yet been released, the driver made the fatal mistake of trying to make a U-turn. It’s possible that the two didn’t see the semi truck headed towards them or maybe they thought they would be able to turn in time, but unfortunately that’s not how events played out. The driver of the semi did all he could to stop in time, but it takes a lot longer for a semi to stop than it takes a car and his truck smashed into the side of the car instantly killing the driver. The passenger was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center but doctors were unable to save her and she died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Washington State Patrol officers do not plan on citing the driver of the semi truck because there is just no way that he could have stopped in time. As much as I know that the driver just wanted to help it is still necessary to follow the rules of the road. This tragic auto accident could have easily been avoided if they had just turned around in a area where it was legal to do so, even though it was late at night and the road was fairly empty, you can never be too cautious.