Ohio County, WV — June 24, 2024, one person was killed due to a motorcycle versus truck accident at around 4:00 p.m. on National Road.
According to officials, the crash took place along National Road (U.S. 40) just west of the Pennsylvania state line.
Investigators said that an unidentified person was on a motorcycle that was going westbound along National Road. Up ahead, there was apparently a semi-truck attempting to turn onto eastbound lanes. As it turned, the motorcycle crashed into the side of the truck. As a result, the motorcyclist was killed. No other injuries were reported.
At this time, exact factors surrounding the crash are unconfirmed, and authorities haven’t reported any charges or citations.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
While I certainly don’t know anything specific about this crash beyond what’s been stated publicly, it’s important any crash involving a motorcycle is taken seriously early on. The simple reason for that is a lot of people are biased against motorcyclists, so they may be quick to blame a rider for a crash even without any evidence to do so.
For example, I handled a case a while back where a family was confused because authorities were blaming their loved one for a motorcycle crash, but they knew the victim was an incredibly safe driver. In the investigating officer’s report, they said a witness testified the rider had been speeding and driving recklessly. But when we interviewed this witness, they were just as shocked as the family to see that.
All the witness told the officer was that the motorcyclist went around them. They even said the rider gave a courteous wave and was going at a completely reasonable rate of speed. The officer had a preconceived assumption that the rider must have been in the wrong, so they jumped to conclusions and completely misinterpreted the evidence. It was only after calling all of that out that the police admitted they messed up and corrected their reports. Not only that, but it was clarified that the crash happened because a truck cut off the rider while turning out of a parking lot.
I’m not trying to speculate about the details surrounding this accident. However, motorcycle wrecks often being mishandled makes it important to anticipate potential hurdles that a police investigation alone may not be able to address. Regardless of what happened here or who may or may not be responsible, there’s a family out there that deserves answers. They shouldn’t be at the whim of people who may be biased against a victim who isn’t around to tell their side of the story.
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