73-year-old John Bahl was driving his semi when his trailer detached from his vehicle. The trailer hit the vehicle of 55-year-old Mark Kerper. He was killed, but his passenger remained unharmed.
KCRG reports this was not Bahl’s first accident. “In September 2003, Bahl was driving a flatbed trailer when a backhoe slid off the trailer on Highway 52 east of Rickardsville in Dubuque County,” reports KCRG. His backhoe, in eerily similar circumstances, hit a vehicle, killing the driver and seriously injuring the passenger.
Bahl was punished for the first accident for violating safety requirements and paid a $400 fine. He was charged with violating safety violations again in 2007, paying another fine. No charges have been filed yet in this accident.