Motorcycle Accident: Terri's Story

Bob Jensen proudly and ably served in the United States Army in Vietnam. In addition to being honorably discharged, he was a decorated soldier. Shortly after he left the Army, he met up with Terri who became his constant companion and the mother of his two children.

Bob and Terri loved to go riding on Bob’s motorcycle. One night, after attending a birthday party in Denver, Colorado, they got on the bike and headed towards Interstate 70 westbound so they could return to their home. What Bob and Terri did not know was that at the top of the on-ramp to the Interstate, in the dark, was a 76,000 pound piece of road equipment. An employee of the contractor who was in the process of resurfacing the highway had left the equipment there.

The resurfacing effort had shut down around midnight because the company had run out of asphalt. According to procedure, a “flagging” company hired specifically to provide warning lights, barricades, flagging and attendants was supposed to first close off the on-ramp so that no traffic could enter the highway at that location. Then, they were to safely and carefully escort the paving equipment off the road, down the on-ramp and ensure that the equipment was safely parked on the street.