Tractor trailer kills one year old boy

Two weeks ago in Kansas a one year old boy was killed in a truck accident when the vehicle in which he was a passenger was hit by a tractor-trailer.  The boy's mother was driving east, intending to make a left hand turn to go north.  At the same time a westbound truck came to the intersection and slowed to make a left hand turn to go south.  Thinking that the intersection was clear, the boy's mother began to make her left hand turn when their vehicle was hit by a second tractor trailer that came up behind the turning tractor trailer and tried to pass the turning tractor trailer on the shoulder of the road.  The passing tractor trailer hit the boy's vehicle, killing him and injuring his mother and sister.

Professional truck drivers should know that they should not switch lanes without knowing that the lane ahead of them and behind them is clear and that they can switch lanes and still proceed ahead safely.  This wrongful death truck accident occurred because the passing truck driver switched lanes when he could not have known that the shoulder would remain clear as he approached the intersection.  It was simply a dangerous maneuver.

The safer course of action for him would have been to wait for the truck ahead of him to complete his turn and then proceed on his way.  It would have taken less than a minute in all likelihood and had he done so, that one year old boy would be alive today.