Daron Ellis Killed in Truck Accident on University Boulevard in Tyler, TX
Tyler, TX -- May 4, 2022, 22-year-old Daron Ellis was killed in an ejection crash with a fuel truck on University Boulevard in Tyler.
Authorities say the incident happened Wednesday morning on the 3900 block of University Boulevard near Liberty Lane. Preliminary investigation suggests Ellis was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe south on the roadway when he attempted to change lanes and struck the rear-left quarter of a Peterbilt fuel truck. After the impact the Tahoe ran off the road and overturned.
Ellis was ejected in the rollover and suffered fatal injuries. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Daron Ellis Accident on University Blvd in Tyler
It's not entirely clear why this terrible incident happened, though folks are often quick to overlook a rear-end collision. They tend to just assume the rear driver did something wrong. That's pretty common, and maybe it happened here as well. However, there may be other circumstances to consider.
For example, I handled a situation where a person crashed into the back of a semi-truck that was disabled on the highway. When we dug into things, a few key details police overlooked stood out. One was that the truck driver made no effort to put out reflectors or cones behind the truck as required by federal law. Furthermore, the truck stopped due to mechanical issues that were the direct result of poor maintenance. Finally, the issue didn't actually force the truck to come to a dead stop in middle of the road. We learned the driver could actually have continued off the highway until they found somewhere safer to pull over, but instead they panicked and created a deadly roadblock.
I'm not saying anything like that was involved in the Tyler crash, but if folks had written off the other accident because the victim rear-ended a truck then a lot of important information would never have seen the light of day. That's why it's important to be thorough in these situations and make sure there are professional investigations into all the crash's factors. At the very least the victim's loved ones deserve as many answers as investigators can give them.
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