A veteran of the Colorado State Patrol was hit and killed by a tractor trailer on Nov. 24 on I-25 outside of Castle Rock, Colorado. He was the third state trooper to be struck by a vehicle on the job in Colorado in the last 18 months. 

The trooper, Cody Donahue, was standing outside of his patrol car investigating an accident on the I-25 northbound shoulder when a tractor trailer hit him.

The Colorado State Police stated that the truck driver has been detained and will soon be arrested and charged.

The Colorado State Police Division Chief Steve Johnson warned truckers and all motorists that when they see a police car on the shoulder with its lights flashing, it is the law to slow down and/or move over.

The tractor trailer that struck the trooper is owned by a commercial food service company, and the police will review cameras on the truck and also Donahue’s patrol car camera to gather evidence.

Our View

There is no excuse for a tractor trailer driver to not see a police car with lights flashing on the shoulder of an interstate. As Virginia truck accident attorneys, we know the Virginia CDL manual very well. That manual states that truck drivers must know what is going on all around their vehicle at all times. This means that the driver should be looking 15 seconds ahead when they are on the highway. If the driver was doing his job, he would have easily seen the police car well before he hit the trooper.

Our Virginia and North Carolina personal injury attorneys recently handled a tractor trailer accident where the truck sideswiped our client as he was standing beside his truck on the shoulder, killing him. Our truck crash attorneys were able to file a successful wrongful death lawsuitg in this truck accident case and obtain a $2.25 million settlement. 

Truck crash cases are usually complex, and this one was no exception. The truck driver who caused this accident died  before the wrongful death lawsuit took place, and nonetheless, our truck accident attorney specializing in personal injuries and death in truck accident was able to still secure a good settlement for the surviving family.