Roberto Flores Injured in 18-Wheeler Accident on US-83 in Laredo, TX
UPDATE (April 19, 2022): The man injured in this accident has been identified as Roberto Ramos Flores.
Laredo, TX -- April 4, 2022, an 83-year-old man was injured in a collision with a tractor-trailer along U.S. Highway 83 in Laredo.
Authorities say the incident happened around 6:55 a.m. at the intersection of US-83 and Mangana-Hein Road. Preliminary investigation suggests a westbound Freightliner 18-wheeler allegedly failed to yield the right-of-way to a northbound Toyota RAV4 at the intersection. A witness told investigators he saw the big rig make a rolling stop at its sign and then continue forward, at which point the two vehicles collided.
The SUV driver was victim was extricated from his vehicle and taken to an area hospital in critical condition. The truck driver was reportedly unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Roberto Flores Accident on US-83 in Laredo
A lot of folks take crash reports like this as an open-and-shut account of what happened. Police say the truck driver ran a stop sign, so what else is there to know? Well, for one thing it's important to learn why he did that. Finding that out could change things significantly for the victim and his family. It's one thing for a commercial driver to make a serious mistake on his own, but in a situation like one I handled recently the company behind him may also have a direct share of the responsibility for what happened.
In that crash our independent investigations showed that a reckless trucker who caused a collision at an intersection was in a hurry, trying to meet an unreasonable deadline. The driver's employer constantly set ludicrous delivery timetables, leaving employees to make a difficult choice: cut corners and ignore safety in the name of faster turnaround, or potentially get fired or lose routes for not playing ball and then be unable to provide for their families. With options like those, it was only a matter of time before people got hurt.
The situation in Laredo may not involve an unethical company behind the at-fault driver, but I will say the other case I mentioned isn't the only time we've run into one. That's why digging further into these situations can change things so dramatically. The consequences for a single person making a momentary but costly mistake likely wouldn't be enough to make the company behind him change its ways. Without meaningful repercussions, that company might continue putting lives at risk until someone makes it clean up its act.
As I said there's no real indication anything of the sort is involved in this crash, but the possibility is more than enough reason to investigate as thoroughly as possible and get the victim's loved ones some real answers.
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