The news is still coming in today about a tragic traffic accident that happened early this morning on the Bishop Ford Freeway in Dalton, Illinois: a beautiful young woman somehow fell out of a moving SUV and after hitting the pavement was run over by both a semi truck and a car. So far, it’s known that Jennifer Mitchell died at the scene of this horrific accident and that the driver of the SUV is being questioned by law enforcement, after leaving the scene and being treated at a hospital.
Our condolences to the Loved Ones of Jennifer Mitchell. Of course, the first thing is for condolences to be shared and sent out to the family and friends of this lovely young woman. We all share in the shock and sadness of what happened this morning and hope that Jennifer Mitchell’s loved ones are finding some comfort in sharing their grief today.
Complications of an Accident Injury Investigation. The second thing is to consider and wonder what exactly happened here. While the news stories are still scant on details, this fatality does serve to demonstrate how complicated traffic crash cases can be — over the years, we have seen how true mysteries can exist in an accident case that takes professional investigators with all their technological tools to figure out exactly what has occurred.
While many people want to know what happened here, it will take the input of many professionals: hospital lab staff, doctors, EMTs, police officers, police investigators, Troopers, experts in accident scene reconstruction, witnesses to the accident, etc. Accident investigations can be extremely complex.
The truth of this tragedy will not become clear as soon as anyone would like. Was there a road hazard? Was there distracted driving? Was there a failure in the vehicle itself? (Did the seat belt fail? Did the brakes? Did the steering?) What about the lighting? What about the drivers of all the vehicles involved here? What was the weather like then?
Jennifer Mitchell and her family deserve to have the truth of what has happened to cause her untimely death come to light. Hopefully, this will happen soon. However, we must all be aware that finding the facts and organizing them into the true and complete story of what happened before dawn this morning will take time — and it’s the right thing to do, to take that time, in order to determine the full truth and bring justice to this young woman.
