A father and son – Edward Smith, Sr. and Edward Smith, Jr. – were killed when a semi-truck slammed into their Dodge Caravan after the two stopped to help a driver stranded on interstate 81 (I-81) in Wytheville, Virginia (VA).

My deepest condolences go out to the Smith’s friends and family. This is an especially tragic accident considering the father and son stopped on the side of the road to help another driver struggling to travel in the winter weather.

The tractor trailer reportedly swerved to miss the disabled car that was on the road, jackknifed and smacked the Caravan.

Jackknifed tractor trailers, unable to handle the icy roads, caused the biggest problems in Southwest Virginia, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.

“I’d rather drive off a cliff than hit a four-wheeler, cause you know they’ve got families in them, kids inside,” said Joe Soliz, a truck driver. “But when you’ve got 80,000 pounds on your back, pushing you, it’s just hard to stop.”

This is why there are federal regulations specifically dealing with large commercial trucks on roadways during bad weather . Ideally, drivers of commercial trucks like tractor trailers and big rigs would find a place to stop and wait out the storm. Unfortunately, there seem to be many truckers who throw caution to the wind and continue their travels despite icy roads (which could potentially turn to black ice ), high winds and huge amounts of snow.

Truck drivers need to fully analyze the potential consequences of driving in a snowstorm. All of the challenges truckers routinely face (e.g. the sudden movements of other vehicles on the road, poor visibility, etc.) increase exponentially when you add bad winter weather to the mix.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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