Hi there I was just wondering about the case I beilve that happened in Arkansas where a truck driver ran into a motorcyclist on the interstate. The accident caused the motorcyclist to lose his leg. Any updates on this 1?

unfortunately no.

Ok. What was the name of the biker? Also when did this accident happen?

Jay Durham. Sometime in the early 90's

Personally, I still can't believe that Jay LIVED through that attack. It's amazing, really.

Yeah I agree, although his injuries were quite extensive. I can't imagine having two options, and the better one is to jump off the grill of a truck going 70 mph on the freeway. It seems apparent that the truck driver thought that was enough to kill Durham, as if he wanted to be sure, he would have came back and made sure the job was finished. I can't imagine what motive he had, unless he didn't like motorcyclists in general.

I just watched this segment again and on one hand I can't help but thinking the trucker was dozing off or something, I mean why else would he continue at full speed and almost slam into the truck in front of him, that would have made no sense unless he was suicidal :eek: .

But then again if it actually was an accident you would think the trucker would have contacted the authorities or would have tried to find Jay. It's also possible he thought about doing that but while considering the consequences thought he'd be better off not to.

It's a shame anyway, and it's hard to see how that guy can live with himself :mad: I hope Jay has recovered and is doing well as a tattoo artist :)

I just watched this segment again and on one hand I can't help but thinking the trucker was dozing off or something, I mean why else would he continue at full speed and almost slam into the truck in front of him, that would have made no sense unless he was suicidal :eek: .

But then again if it actually was an accident you would think the trucker would have contacted the authorities or would have tried to find Jay. It's also possible he thought about doing that but while considering the consequences thought he'd be better off not to.

It's a shame anyway, and it's hard to see how that guy can live with himself :mad: I hope Jay has recovered and is doing well as a tattoo artist :)

I don't think the truck driver was sleeping. If he was, the sound of Jay's motorcycle hitting the front of his truck probably would have woke him up. The fact that the truck driver not only hit him, but tried to ram him into the other truck, tells me that he was probably awake and intended to do it.

Plus, if you fall asleep, you're much more likely to find your car decelarating as opposed to accelerating, which would require muscle activity, and sleeping entails the opposite: muscles relaxing. Not only did the truck not decelerate, it appears to have accelerated.

No way was that an accident, the guy was trying to kill him.

The fact the guy was laying there and him and his buddy got out and were hunting for him says it all, if it was an accident they would have got right on their radios and dialed an ambulance whether they had found him or not, instead they were looking around for him for a while to finish him off.

Yeah, you don't pick a motorcycle out of your grill and wonder if maybe you just hit a coon or imagined the whole thing :)

No way was that an accident, the guy was trying to kill him.

The fact the guy was laying there and him and his buddy got out and were hunting for him says it all, if it was an accident they would have got right on their radios and dialed an ambulance whether they had found him or not, instead they were looking around for him for a while to finish him off.

Hmm, you're probably right there..

But isn't it a bit strange to try to kill someone with a truck? I mean it seems very impractical and it would be quite pricy with all the repairs, but also people would probably take more notice of a damaged semi than say, your average Chevy.

Hmm, you're probably right there..

But isn't it a bit strange to try to kill someone with a truck? I mean it seems very impractical and it would be quite pricy with all the repairs, but also people would probably take more notice of a damaged semi than say, your average Chevy.

I don't think it's strange. Vehicles, I would imagine, would be comfortable weapons for some people, because they can use it, not have to worry too much about being retaliated against, and they can drive off in a hurry.

Plus, it appears that the motive was that Jay was a motorcyclist, there doesn't appear to be any other motive. This was likely someone Jay had never met before, so this was probably the truck driver's only chance as he probably would have never came across Jay again.

Yes my guess is this guy had some type of run in with a biker previous to this and had some stupid grudge, the thing that amazed me was there were other vehicles around in the reconstruction and yet nobody seemed to care what was happening.

Jay may have unknownlly cut the truck driver off. He may have hit him out of retailiation. Still does not justify his actions though

Jay may have unknownlly cut the truck driver off. He may have hit him out of retailiation. Still does not justify his actions though

Wasn't the trucker later spotted with another trucker (now an accomplice) trying to clean the scene up (or even worse, looking to give the biker the coup de grace)? That doesn't sound accidental to me...........

Wasn't the trucker later spotted with another trucker (now an accomplice) trying to clean the scene up (or even worse, looking to give the biker the coup de grace)? That doesn't sound accidental to me...........

Well according to UM he may just have been a passer-by who was told that the trucker had hit a parked motorcycle or something, so I wouldn't exactly call him an accomplice. He probably had no idea what had really happened.

Well according to UM he may just have been a passer-by who was told that the trucker had hit a parked motorcycle or something, so I wouldn't exactly call him an accomplice. He probably had no idea what had really happened.

yeah, but who parks their motorcycle on the freeway? I always thought the 2truck drivers might have beein in cohoots with one another

yeah, but who parks their motorcycle on the freeway? I always thought the 2truck drivers might have beein in cohoots with one another

That's a good point wiseguy. They could have communicated by CB radio.

I've felt maybe Jay cut him off (without knowing) on the freeway. He could have merged with the semi who had to hit the brakes really quick to let him on the freeway. This could have made him angry and this is the reason he ran Jay off the road. He could have also had a past negative encounter with motorcycles and just decided to run the guy over...

That's a good point wiseguy. They could have communicated by CB radio.

thanks. yeah, his motorcycle couldn't have been parked on the expressway. the guy who hit it might have said it was on the shoulder, but the truck would have veered off and crashed in order to hit it like he did. Where the motorcycle was lodged, he would have to be directly behind it in order to hit it like that. Otherwise he would have hit it, but it wouldn't have caught in his grill, it just would have bounced off the side of the truck. So yeah, the other truck driver was either an accomplice or should have known better IMO.

Plus, the other truck driver should have made more of a search effort to find Jay. He should have rationalized that the guy who hit the motorcycle isn't going to drag that thing for miles on end. He's going to get it off ASAP, and he should have known that Jay Durham wasn't too far away, and sure enough he wasn't.

so yeah, I think the other truck driver is guilty of something. Accessory after the fact I think it's called.

Hmm, it is possible the other truck driver was in on it. But how could he be? I mean, did the other truck driver call him on a radio and say "hey I am going to hit a motorcyle for kicks" or tell him at a truck stop, "yeah, you know when we get back on the interstate I am going to hit the first guy I see on a motorcycle that gets in my way."

It is certainly possible, that if the other truck driver was "in on it" that he didnt know it was going to happen ahead of time, but maybe knew the truck driver that hit the motorcycle and was friends with him or something but because he knew him decided to help him cover it up. Either that or the truck driver told the other one that he had fallen asleep or veered off the road or something and hit an abandoned motorcycle on the shoulder or something. It was late at night and perhaps in depth thinking at the time wasnt done so maybe it didnt register in the truck drivers mind that the other driver had purposely hit Jay on his motorcycle. It is obvious that the truck driver purposely hit Jay for whatever reason, because even if he had fallen asleep or was drunk or under the influence of drugs or whatever, if you realized you had hit a motorcycle you would stop and try to help if it was purely an accident.

The truck drivers didnt seem to try very hard to find Jay, although that does stand to reason if they truely wanted to do him in, they would have found him, but then again, they probably figured he would bleed to death or was already dead anyway, so maybe that is why they didnt look harder for him?

The reason why I lean towards the other truck driver at least knowing it wasnt an accidnet and helping out a buddy was that if it was an accident and this guy had just helped and then realized later it wasnt an accident, wouldnt he have called authorities? It is also very suscipious that no one reported working on a severely damaged truck in the days after the accident.

What I was getting at above was that in order for the guy who hit jay to hit the motorcycle, one almost has to conclude that he would have to be directly behind it in order to get it lodged in his grill the way he did. If it was on the shoulder, he would have to drive on the shoulder to get it stuck in the grill the way it was, and the truck probably would have turned over in that circumstance.

The fact that neither truck driver looks for Jay for too long actually makes me think less of them - they could have HELPED Jay, and both should have either known or at least checked enough to see if someone was injured. The other truck driver should have rationalized that once someone gets a motorcycle in their grill, their going to get off ASAP, so if someone was on the bike, they wouldn't be too far and Jay wasn't too far away.

As for the repairs, who knows where the truck was headed. He could have had it repaired anywhere on the continent, and whoever repaired it might not have heard about the incident.

I'm not entirely convinced that the 2 truckers that looked for Jay intended on injuring him further. While the accident that took place was done in such a way that no one else on the road could have seen it, at least the lanes going in the same direction, if they starting beating up Jay while he was on the side of the road, almost certainly someone would have seen it. Even at night there is a fair amount of traffic on the expressway. It would have been pretty risky for them to try and "finish the job" with so many potential witnesses. Even though it was dark out, there still are headlights on.

I am surprised that there were not alot of witnesses. I mean, usually, when you're driving down the interstate and witness a bad wreck, people start pulling over to aid those involved or just to have a look. Even late at night or early in the morning, there had to have been several that saw that. It's weird. If the guy had tried to stage it where others coudln't see it, I still think some would have anyway. The truck would have drawn attention. It's not unusual for a semi to be pulled over on the side of the road, but most still notice it and look anyway. It just seems like someone would have seen the motorcycle too.

Its hard to think this was premeditated or anything as I'm sure the truck driver didn't know Jay but in my opinion it seemed to me after the initial hit the trucker was determined to "finish the job" instead of quickly getting out of there which seems strange. Its really hard to tell if the other trucker was in on anything but he would have to be pretty dense not to know that something pretty bad had just went down and should have reported the incident if nothing else anonymously.

Well according to UM he may just have been a passer-by who was told that the trucker had hit a parked motorcycle or something, so I wouldn't exactly call him an accomplice. He probably had no idea what had really happened.

I don't think the driver of the other truck was innocent. Why? Because the other alternative makes no sense. Let me explain:

The reason Jay jumped is that the first trucker (the one who hit him) was about to crush him by ramming into the back of the second truck. I find it unreasonable that the first trucker was about to rear-end a second trucker who happened to be a total stranger, and then after almost rear-ending him, the second driver who had never met the first driver before in his life, decided to be a nice guy, stop, and help the first trucker not only dislodge a bike that was apparently just sitting by the side of the road abandoned and close enough to be hit (but which somehow the second driver did not see as he was in front and must have passed that same spot the bike was originally parked on), but then after dislodging the bike, helps him look for, uh, what exactly? Doesn't make any sense - but if anyone can make sense of these discrepancies, please post them for me.

I know UM said, "authorities believe the second driver is totally innocent". Maybe they do - or maybe they are saying this to encourage that driver to come forward, because they knew that was their best (perhaps only?) chance to solve the case. If the second driver thinks the authorities believe he is innocent, he might not be afraid step forward and point the finger at the first driver (and spin and skew the story to exhonerate himself of guilt). And if the authorities really do believe that, I would like them to explain those discrepancies for me.

I don't think the driver of the other truck was innocent. Why? Because the other alternative makes no sense. Let me explain:

The reason Jay jumped is that the first trucker (the one who hit him) was about to crush him by ramming into the back of the second truck. I find it unreasonable that the first trucker was about to rear-end a second trucker who happened to be a total stranger, and then after almost rear-ending him, the second driver who had never met the first driver before in his life, decided to be a nice guy, stop, and help the first trucker not only dislodge a bike that was apparently just sitting by the side of the road abandoned and close enough to be hit (but which somehow the second driver did not see as he was in front and must have passed that same spot the bike was originally parked on), but then after dislodging the bike, helps him look for, uh, what exactly? Doesn't make any sense - but if anyone can make sense of these discrepancies, please post them for me.

I know UM said, "authorities believe the second driver is totally innocent". Maybe they do - or maybe they are saying this to encourage that driver to come forward, because they knew that was their best (perhaps only?) chance to solve the case. If the second driver thinks the authorities believe he is innocent, he might not be afraid step forward and point the finger at the first driver (and spin and skew the story to exhonerate himself of guilt). And if the authorities really do believe that, I would like them to explain those discrepancies for me.

I just rewatched the segment, and noticed that the "second trucker" that pulled over was described as "another truck soon pulled over." That, to me, meant that it wasn't necessarily the same truck that was ahead of the truck that hit Jay.

I have a feeling a truck down the road that was coming noticed that a fellow trucker was on the side of the road, and pulled over, not knowing what had happened. That's my take. It's a shame this guy hasn't been caught though.

I just rewatched the segment, and noticed that the "second trucker" that pulled over was described as "another truck soon pulled over." That, to me, meant that it wasn't necessarily the same truck that was ahead of the truck that hit Jay.

I have a feeling a truck down the road that was coming noticed that a fellow trucker was on the side of the road, and pulled over, not knowing what had happened. That's my take. It's a shame this guy hasn't been caught though.

I've got to agree with you on this one.

I just rewatched the segment, and noticed that the "second trucker" that pulled over was described as "another truck soon pulled over." That, to me, meant that it wasn't necessarily the same truck that was ahead of the truck that hit Jay.

I have a feeling a truck down the road that was coming noticed that a fellow trucker was on the side of the road, and pulled over, not knowing what had happened. That's my take. It's a shame this guy hasn't been caught though.

Oh, ah-heh-heh. Well that makes sense then. Oops! One of my many blonde moments. :blush: Yes, in that case, the other driver is probably innocent.

This segment always really bothered me. When I was traveling out of state this past December I drove through Memphis on I-40, over the bridge into Arkansas. The exit Jay was struck is very near there and I couldn't help but think of him. I really wish we could know how he's doing now.