Wheel from Tractor Trailer comes off killing St. peters man - May 04, 2010

Recent news articles in the St. Louis area remind us of what we have written about repeatedly in this blog; the need for additional safety and care when sharing the roadway with tractor trailers, semis and other large trucks.

Yesterday, a 24 year old man, Brandon Haskins, from St. Peters, Missouri was fatally injured when a truck tire came crashing through his 2003 Dodge Durango's windshield as he was traveling east on Interstate 70. The wheel was one of two that fell off a tractor trailer traveling in the opposite direction. The wheel bounced over the median killing Mr. Haskins at the site of the crash. Mr. Haskin's vehicle then careened into an eastbound car driven by Jamie Duboise of O'Fallon, Mo who sustained moderate injuries. Both vehicles went off the highway.

The driver of the tractor trailer, Wayne W. Knickmeyer, of Wentzville was not hurt. The Missouri Highway Patrol reported that the lugnuts on the truck's rear axle had come loose, resulting in the wheels spinning off. Knickmeyer apparently had told the patrol investigators that the truck had recently been serviced.