On November 24th, 2021 while on her way to work Lori Nightingale stopped to help a young man that had rolled his vehicle. Her neighbor pulled to the side of the road near her and flagged traffic while she checked on and got the young man into her vehicle to warm up until emergency crews could get there. Just after securing him in the vehicle a young inexperienced tractor trailer driver who did not see the flagger hit his brakes (the back trailer brake was bad) and jackknifed, hitting both the neighbor’s pickup truck and her vehicle. She tried to run from the oncoming tractor trailer but was struck by the pickup truck after it was impacted by the tractor trailer. Fortunately, the young man she had stopped to help made it through his second wreck of the day but she succumbed to her extensive injuries early the 26th, the day after Thanksgiving.
Lori was a hardworking, playful soul, a loving sister, mother, auntie and grandmother. She loved the outdoors and was a truck driver herself including the haul road in Alaska. She was a talented artist and an amazing mother/best friend. Animals of all types made her happy but most of all horses. She always tried to help anyone in need she could, especially seniors, veterans, single parents and the homeless.
Had this driver been more experienced, been paying closer attention to the road and the flagger or pre-checked his rig this could have been avoided. In addition, the trucking company should have been doing maintenance on its truck. This crash changed several people’s lives that day not to mention the ripple effect to loved ones. Lori’s daughter hopes the replay of listening to all this happen fades someday… but she knows the desire to help make changes so other lives may be spared will never fade.