Kern County, CA — October 23, 2024, two people were killed following an 18-wheeler accident at around 4:40 p.m. along California City Boulevard.
According to initial details about the accident, it happened outside a Family Dollar off the corner of California City Boulevard and Hacienda Boulevard.
Investigators said that two people were in a Subaru going westbound on California City Boulevard. Up ahead, authorities say there was a tractor-trailer attempting to back into the Family Dollar lot, blocking lanes of travel. As a result, the Subaru crashed into the trailer, killing both occupants in the Subaru.
Right now, additional details about the crash are unavailable. It’s unclear if authorities are considering charges or citations.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
There are many details that aren’t available in these current statements, so I’m certainly not here to jump to conclusions. What does stand out to me, though, is authorities claiming a commercial tractor-trailer was blocking lanes of travel while backing into a business. Was there a reason the driver was doing this rather than finding a way to pull in normally?
Generally speaking, there aren’t many safe or reasonable ways to back up across lanes of travel. For example, a driver could have co-workers outside the truck with Hi-Vis gear flagging down traffic. Otherwise, the truck could simply be an unnecessary and deadly obstruction that could have been avoided. Looking at images of this location (if the images I’ve seen are up to date), it doesn’t seem like a tractor-trailer would have to back into the parking lot. So why did this driver decide to make a maneuver which I’ve seen reputable trucking companies fire drivers for attempting?
Was the driver inexperienced? Were they rushing to meet unreasonable deadlines? Have they been involved in accidents before? Did the driver’s employer not train them properly, or did they give them reckless instructions of how to make a delivery? Did the driver miss a turn and simply decided to take a short cut rather than circle back around to the proper entrance? Have locals complained about trucks making these kinds of maneuvers repeatedly in the past?
Again, I can’t say what happened here without seeing more thorough investigations. My concern is simply that folks may assume authorities are going to look at this from all angles. In my experience, that’s not something to take for granted, as authorities don’t always have the time or equipment to investigate complex commercial truck accidents.
That said, after handling hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, I’ve found there’s a helpful rule of thumb for folks to consider. If authorities provide the victims’ loved ones with clear, satisfactory answers about what happened, that would likely mean they’re doing a good job in their investigations. But if the victims’ loved ones find they’re left with doubts or aren’t getting clear answers, there may be complex contributing factors that aren’t getting the attention they deserve.
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