Posted on 04/29/2007 9:28:14 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Edited on 04/29/2007 9:38:19 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed early Sunday in an accident on Highway 40 (Interstate 64), just west of Compton Avenue, authorities said.
Hancock's Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt. He told police that his emergency lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, but that the Exploer didn't slow down or swerve to avoid the collision.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Damn. Asleep at the wheel, maybe.
My team is having a really bad season so far. This is just the worse thing ever. God Bless him and his family and God Bless the St Louis Cardinals.
Damn, so young. What a terrible thing.
Condolences to the family, friends and team members.
I like St. Louis, I call them the Los Angeles Angels of St. Louis because they have so many former Angels.
Sounds like it..an probably NOT wearing a seat belt...so..instant decceleration..I wonder if he went through the windshield...also wonder what the blood alcohol will show..
Me too. Half the 2002 World Championship team is playing in St. Louis these days, so they have a place in my heart.
It's a shame. My neighbor died the same way; drove into the back of a VDot truck on I-95 at 2am doing 65mph. Left two small children.
An event such as this is all the more tragic when someone works so hard only to have their life cut so short.
> ... tow truck that was parked in the far left ... lane ...
This would be the passing lane. Anything stopped there
is obviously a hazard, moreso if on a tight curve.
> ... shortly after 12:30 a.m.
Tired? DUI?
> The tow truck driver ... told police that his emergency
> lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw
> the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, ...
Suggesting that the approaching driver had the same
advance notice, if he noticed.
> ... but that the Exploer didn’t slow down or swerve
> to avoid the collision.
Telling, if true.
> ... the tow truck driver was assisting a motorist from
> an earlier accident.
Alas, accidents tend to beget accidents.
> Hancock, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene.
No word on seatbelts or airbags.
The local legacy media here in KS has taken to making
a point of reporting whether seat belts were in use
when reporting accidents - not clear if that makes
any real impression on those who usually don’t use them.
Always best to pull over into another lane when appreoaching emergency vehicles, the law in many places now. Was there police presence from the prior accident? Hard to imagine tow-truck ops being abandoned by the staties, especially on the high-speed side. Seems to me like the tow-truck driver should have put out flares in the absence of police support. Some blame is warranted there albeit of little help if the oncoming driver is out of it.
Details of the crash weren't disclosed, and the team and St. Louis police said in a statement that further information would be released at a 4 p.m. New York time news conference.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aX10xbQxESWI&refer=home
I looked at the schedule today to see who was pitching, and it said postponed. The Wx is supposed to 85 and perfect. I just started digging deeper into the postponement when I saw your thread. Prayers for the family, team and fans..
> I doubt a vehicle approaching from the rear has much of a
> chance of hearing a horn aimed forward of the tow truck.
Agreed. Had I been that driver, I would have focused
on getting out of the truck and diving over the divider.
Horn is useless in that scenario.
I saw the video on the four o'clock news and the tow truck driver didn't have a prayer, the Jersey barrier made it impossible to get out of the way.
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