Cullum Owings, 22, was returning to Washington & Lee University in Virginia with his brother when he was killed in a car-truck collision on Interstate 81.
Cullum Owings and Pierce Owings were slowing for traffic when a tractor trailer approached behind them, moving too fast to stop. On impact, their car spun, both vehicles left the road, and the brothers’ vehicle was crushed against a stone embankment in the road’s median.
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Trapped inside the car when emergency workers arrived, Cullum died before he could be freed from the wreckage. Pierce Owings survived, suffering cuts and bruises.
RELATED: Dangerous highways: Inspectors search out unsafe trucks
Nationwide, fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses have dropped for decades. But with more trucks and more small cars on the road, the number of truck-involved crashes on Ohio roads has been rising in recent years.
The 2002 death of his son in that accident on the Sunday after Thanksgiving has driven Steve Owings to advocate for increased safety laws in the trucking industry to reduce the number of crashes on U.S. highways.
MORE: Find out what Owings and trucking industry leaders say about highway safety.