Replies

> ... 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.

I doubt a vehicle approaching from the rear has much of a chance of hearing a horn aimed forward of the tow truck. With the back end setup of a tow truck, I doubt seatbelts or even an air bag would help too much in a high-speed crash. Asleep? impaired? who knows but it will come out eventually.

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.

From bloomberg.com

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