Four days after a commercial truck driver was hit and killed while stopped on the shoulder of Interstate 80 near Rock Springs, the Wyoming Highway Patrol is escalating its search for the hit-and-run driver, asking for the public’s help to find the suspect.
Jeremy Simien, a 41-year-old commercial truck driver from Huston, Texas, was struck and killed whilestanding outside his vehicle on the shoulder of I-80 at milepost 99 between Rock Springs and Green River around 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Simien was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of trauma to his head, chest, pelvis, leg and arm, reportsSweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich. His rig was undamaged.
The suspect is believed to have been driving a white semitruck with a company logo that incorporates a red lion, according to one witness who observed the collision from their rearview mirror and glimpsed the suspect's vehicle after pulling to the side of the road, Wyoming Highway Patrol Capt. Marc Russell told Cowboy State Daily.
With this as the only lead, investigators may have a long road to haul.
“Until we get a lead on the company and validate the company that the suspect driver was driving for, it's like looking for a needle and a stack of needles,” Russell said. “It’s a white tractor, white-van trailer. Drive around I-80 and you'll see 100 of them drive past you in an hour.”
This stretch of I-80 near the Green River Tunnel sees between 8,000 and 9,000 commercial truck trips per day.
Only Two Weeks On The Job
Simien was driving for Utah-based Andrus Trucking, which he’d joined a mere two weeks before the hit-and-run, owner James Andrus told Cowboy State Daily. Andrus described Fimien as a kind and upstanding guy, and said his death is felt personally among the company’s truckers.
“It’s traumatic, very traumatic. Definitely a lot of tears shed, with drivers saying, ‘I just talk to him,’” said Andrus, who described the event as an “unexpected freak thing.”
With more than 300 trucks in its fleet and more than a half-a-century in operation, Andrus says it's the first time any of his driver’s have met their end this way.
Captain Russell said he’s seen only one other incident of this sort, involving a tow truck driver who was struck and killed by a motorist while outside his vehicle on a highway near Douglas around 15 years ago.
Trucking Community Rocked
Yet these incidents may be more common than drivers realize.
Nationwide, more than 1,300 people not in a vehicle were killed on interstates and freeways in 2022, according to a 2023 report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).
“The tragic crash in Interstate 80 in Wyoming underscores the significant risks faced by those outside a vehicle, including pedestrians, construction workers, first responders and those who must exit their vehicles on high-speed roadways. Unfortunately, incidents like these are not rare,” Mantill Williams, chief communications officer of GHSA, told Cowboy State Daily via email.
Simien’s death has sent a tremor of emotion through the broader long-haul community, and Wyoming’s truckers specifically are shuddering at the news, according the Keven Hawley, president of the Wyoming Truckers Association.
“This incident serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers truck drivers face every day, especially when they are stopped on the side of the road. The loss of a driver impacts the entire community, and it is made even more painful when it involves a fellow driver,” Hawley told Cowboy State Daily in an email.
It’s an example of the long list of dangers faced by Wyoming semitruckers — from harrowing winds and winter weather storms – which have drawn the attention of both safety advocates and network television shows like “Rocky Mountain Wreckers,” in which Wyoming-based wrecking crews come to the rescue motorist, many of them truckers.
Currently, Wyoming has a “Move Over Law” that requires drivers move over to the lane farthest from stationary first responder vehicles as soon as possible. Hawley believes if semi-trucks were given similar deference, Simien might still be alive. Williams strongly agrees.
“Roadside crashes remain a serious safety concern, and drivers in Wyoming and across the country must remain vigilant, reduce speed, and move over when they see stopped vehicles or pedestrians,” he said.
Simien’s death comes amid a longer trend in the rise in motor vehicle pedestrian fatalities, which now account for 18% of all crash fatalities, an 83% increase since their low point in 2009, according to data from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
His death is also now part of Wyoming’s second-highest-in-the-nation annual motor vehicle crash rate, which amounts to 22 deaths per 100,000 population, IIHS data shows.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and loved ones of the driver. The trucking community is grieving, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating for the safety and well-being of those who keep Wyoming and America moving forward by delivering the goods we all rely on, day in and day out,” Hawley said.
Anyone with information that can help the search for the hit-and-run driver is asked to call the WHP at 307-777-4321.
Zakary Sonntag can be reached at zakary@cowboystatedaily.com.
