PAMPA, TX (11/26/2015) — A wrong way 18-wheeler accident claimed the lives of Jerry and Colette Gordon on Thursday, as they were traveling on Thanksgiving day.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), 51-year-old Jerry Wayne Gordon and 50-year-old Colette Pavelka Gordon were both killed following an 18-wheeler collision in Pampa, Texas along Highway 70.
DPS reported that at around 9:05 a.m. on Thursday, 35-year-old Courtney Dewayne Scales was traveling southbound down a steep incline on Highway 70 in a 2005 Volvo Truck Tractor towing a 2008 Kentucky semi-trailer.
Scales, who was traveling at an unsafe speed for the rainy roadway conditions, lost control of the 18-wheeler and struck a northbound 2013 Hyundai passenger car, driven by Jerry Gordon.
Both Jerry Gordon, and his passenger Colette Gordon, lost their lives in the wreckage.
Scales was transported to the Pampa Regional Medical Center for treatment of injuries.
Authorities have stated that speed and slick road conditions contributed to this fatal accident.
Commentary
A majority (an estimated 90 percent) of fatal 18-wheeler accidents are caused by excessive speeding or a loss of control of the truck. Why didn’t the driver slow down due to weather conditions? Driving in hazardous conditions requires drivers to take extra caution while driving, especially for drivers of larger vehicles like 18-wheeler trucks.
