Orange County, VA -- November 18, 2022, Amanda Goodman was killed after an accident where a semi-truck hit her vehicle.

Investigators said that the accident happened at around 7:45 a.m. along Zachary Taylor Highway at True Blue Road.

Officials said that 31-year-old Amanda C. Goodman was in a Saturn Ion traveling northbound along US 522/Zachary Taylor Highway. At True Blue Road, authorities say a southbound Freightliner turned left into the path of Goodman's vehicle. As a result, the vehicles collided.

Goodman sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash. No other injuries were reported. Authorities say they arrested the truck driver, identified as Robert Snow, for involuntary manslaughter and driving without a valid commercial driver's license. No further information is available.

Commentary on Amanda Goodman Truck Accident in Orange County

Obviously it's serious that police found need to put a truck driver in cuffs following a deadly crash. If evidence shows these allegations to be true, then those consequences are certainly warranted. But there could be a lot more to this crash than just a single driver being reckless. A family lost their loved one, and they deserve answers. The challenge of getting those answers could change drastically if this driver was working for an employer.

While folks may think that an unlicensed driver must have been an independent owner-operator, the reality is some companies out there simply don't care about the safety of others--even their own employees. I've handled hundreds of commercial vehicle wrecks, and many of them involved companies that completely overlooked glaring issues with their drivers or the way they do business. Despite being able to address and fix those issues, they allow them to continue until people get hurt or killed.

That's why, reading these reports, I can't help wondering if this is some rogue driver who happens to have a large truck or if there's a company out there allowing unlicensed drivers to operate multi-ton trucks. Does the driver have a history of reckless driving? Was their license suspended? Are they entirely unqualified to drive a truck, but a company was just so desperate that they hired any warm body that walked through the door?

All of these factors have led to crashes before, yet authorities tend to overlook them. Their concern is with what charges can be filed. To get a family the help they need and to ensure others aren't at similar risk of harm, it's important steps are taken to conduct independent investigations. Knowing all of the factors that led to this tragedy may reveal that there's a lot more to address here than just one allegedly reckless driver.

[jump]