Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

GOLD HILL, OR – A driver is dead and his two passengers critically injured after they were involved in a truck accident Friday morning in Jackson County, Oregon. The rear end collision happened on Interstate 5 south of the city of Gold Hill. The area is in the far southwest section of the state, 155 miles south of Eugene, OR and 64 miles northwest of Yreka, California.

Shortly after 4:45 a.m. Friday morning 49 year old Kenneth W. Moss of Grants Pass, OR was driving a semi tractor truck south on Interstate 5. The truck driver was working for the Erv Bettendorf Trucking Company, based in White City, OR.

Mr. Moss was traveling in the right lane of the highway hauling two trailers filled with wood chips and going up a hill at a slow rate of speed, approximately 20 MPH. As the 18 wheeler drove through the area of the interstate near mile marker 39 he was approached from the rear by a 1996 Chevrolet van driven by 32 year old Christian Rodriguez of Santa Rosa, California. There were two other passengers in the van. Both vehicles were in the right lane of the interstate.

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Mr. Rodriguez came up on the semi truck at a fast rate of speed, and for unknown reasons failed to move into the left lane of the interstate. The Chevy van smashed into the rear end of the back trailer of the semi tractor truck. The impact of the rear end collision deployed the air bags in the van and destroyed the front section of the vehicle.

Jackson County Fire District firefighters were quickly at the site of the truck accident and used tools to extricate the crash victims. The van driver, Mr. Rodriguez, suffered fatal injuries in the rear end collision and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

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The front seat passenger has been identified as the driver’s wife, 36 year old Deborah Solis. She sustained critical injuries in the truck accident and was stabilized at the site and then airlifted by Mercy Flights ambulance to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford, OR. The passenger in the rear seat, 27 year old Immer E. Castillo-Garcia, was also seriously injured in the rear end truck accident. He was treated and then flown to Rogue Valley Hospital by Mercy Flights.

According to Oregon State Police who responded to the truck accident, the van driver and front seat passenger were wearing their seatbelts, but they were unsure if the passenger in the rear was wearing his safety restraints. The semi truck driver, Mr. Moss, was wearing his seat belt and was not injured in the rear end collision.

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Officers from OSP and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department worked together to control traffic at the site of the truck accident. They shut down the highway lanes but were allowing vehicles to move through the accident section using the interstate’s left shoulder. Officials with the Oregon Department of Transportation were also at the scene.

Authorities have not determined why the van driver did not move into the left lane to avoid rear ending the slower moving trailer truck. One theory is that the driver of the van may have been fatigued or had fallen asleep at the time of the truck accident.

No charges have been made at this time, and the accident remains under investigation.

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For more information about Oregon trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact an experienced Oregon truck accident lawyer. For a free initial consultation, contact a nationwide truck accident attorney or OR truck accident lawyer at Truck Accidents 360.