An out-of-control semi-truck driven by a foreign national needing a Russian translator plowed into cars at a red light, killing an Alabama football coach and a single mother—yet somehow the FBI needs to investigate if this driver should have had a commercial license in the first place.
At a Glance
- Andrii Dmyterko, a truck driver from Pennsylvania requiring a Russian translator, crashed into vehicles at a red light in Thomasville, Alabama, killing two people and injuring four others.
- The FBI has joined the investigation as both Dmyterko and his passenger, Denys Kucher, are foreign nationals in the U.S. on work visas.
- No signs of braking were observed before the crash, and investigators are scrutinizing how Dmyterko obtained his CDL certification.
- The tragic incident has raised serious questions about the enforcement of English proficiency requirements for foreign truck drivers.
Another “Work Visa” Disaster on American Roads
When Americans drive on their own highways, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether the person behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound semi-truck can read road signs or understand basic traffic laws. Yet here we are again, with two innocent lives snuffed out because our government apparently thinks it’s discriminatory to require truck drivers to comprehend the English language. The crash in Thomasville, Alabama has left a community devastated, with authorities confirming that the truck driver responsible for the carnage, Andrii Dmyterko, required a Russian translator to communicate with police after he destroyed five vehicles and killed two people.
This catastrophic collision, which authorities describe as one of the worst accidents they’ve ever seen in Thomasville, claimed the lives of Ashley Marie Springer McDonald, a single mother, and Woodie Beck, a beloved local football and softball coach. Four others were injured when Dmyterko’s truck barreled through a red light without even attempting to brake. The devastation was so complete that Mayor Sheldon Day initially assumed the driver must have suffered some sort of medical emergency—because what else could explain such deadly negligence?
No Medical Emergency—Just Pure Negligence
After medical examination revealed Dmyterko was perfectly fine physically, investigators had to face an uncomfortable truth: this wasn’t about health issues; it was about competence. The FBI is now involved because both Dmyterko and his passenger, Denys Kucher, are in the United States on work visas. The glaring question becomes how someone who needs a Russian translator to speak with American authorities was deemed qualified to operate a commercial truck on U.S. roads in the first place.
“Common sense tells you something had to have happened medically or otherwise to cause this driver to go through this intersection.” – Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day
The semi-truck, owned by 4 US Transportation Company based in Chicago, showed no signs of braking before slamming into the vehicles stopped at the red light. Think about that for a moment: no braking. This wasn’t a split-second miscalculation; this was complete failure to respond to a basic traffic signal. Dmyterko now faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter and sits in Clarke County Jail, but that’s small consolation to the families who lost loved ones because someone couldn’t understand or follow simple traffic laws.
Biden’s Lax Enforcement of Trucking Regulations
Under President Trump, there were genuine efforts to enforce regulations requiring foreign truckers to be able to read and understand English-language road signs. But like so many other common-sense policies, the Biden administration has apparently decided that such requirements are just too burdensome. Now authorities are scrambling to investigate how Dmyterko obtained his Commercial Driver’s License certification in the first place. How many more Americans need to die before we acknowledge that having truck drivers who can’t understand our language or traffic laws is a recipe for disaster?
“They’re going to pay. We can’t make the loved ones lost yesterday come back, but we certainly make the one responsible pay.” – Thomasville Police Chief Mitchell Stuckey
While Police Chief Mitchell Stuckey promises justice, and Mayor Day vows to “leave no stone unturned” in the investigation, the real tragedy is that this was completely preventable. This isn’t about being anti-immigrant; it’s about basic safety standards that should never be compromised. The trucking industry is a vital part of our economy, but allowing people who can’t read road signs or communicate effectively to drive commercial vehicles is inexcusable negligence—and in this case, it was deadly negligence. Two Alabamians are dead, four others injured, and families shattered because our government prioritizes cheap labor over American lives.
