Authorities responded to a fatal tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 70 at McKelvey early Monday morning.  48 year-old Wayne Knickmeyer was driving a Volvo semi-truck westbound when he lost two wheels from the dual axle of his big rig.  One of the wheels bounced over the concrete median and struck a Dodge Durango being driven by Brandon Haskin of St. Peters.  The large truck tire impacted Haskin's windshield at over 50 miles per hour.  His SUV then collided into a Nissan Altima driven by Jamie DuBoise.  24 year-old Haskin was pronounced dead upon arrival by EMS, while DuBoise was transported to DuPaul hospital for treatment.  Authorities ruled the cause of the collision as equipment failure, but declined to file charges against the truck driver at this time. 

A preliminary investigation by the highway patrol discovered that Knickmeyer had recently had his 2008 Volvo tractor serviced by a truck dealer.  This is critical evidence, and a Missouri truck accident injury lawyer will certainly look to the service center to explain how and why the lug nuts on Knickmeyer's truck were not securely fastened.  One of the first things that must be done in a case like this is for a lawyer to file a protective order with the court to secure the 2008 tractor and trailer.  In any equipment failure case, the truck and trailer must be preserved in their current condition, prior to any further repairs being completed.  If the truck is altered in any way, the victims' family may have a harder time proving that equipment failure was the proximate cause of the crash.  A Missouri injury lawyer will hire an engineer and safety analyst to download the truck's electronic control module (ECM) to pull all raw data stored just before the wheel was lost from the truck.

Missouri has a three year statute of limitations for any tractor-trailer wrongful death claim.  However, fatal claims involving a commercial motor vehicle must be prosecuted immediately before evidence is lost, manipulated, or destroyed.  All maintenance records for the 2008 Volvo must be preserved to determine the service history of the truck from day one.  Reconciling service records with vehicle inspection reports may shed light on exactly who is to share blame for the cause of this preventable fatal crash.  Almost all equipment failure cases involving a tractor-trailer could have been prevented.  Aggressive legal representation by a Missouri truck accident injury lawyer may help send a message to those persons who think anything less than "the highest degree of care" is adequate in the service, maintenance, and operation of a 60,000 pound tractor-trailer.