18-Wheeler Rear-Ends Car, Two Injured on Delta Drive in El Paso, TX
El Paso, TX -- April 19, 2022, two women aged 23 and 21 were injured in a crash with a commercial truck on Delta Drive in El Paso.
Authorities say the incident happened around 2:05 p.m. on the 6400 block of Delta near Fonseca Drive. Preliminary investigation suggests a Toyota Corolla was traveling west in the left lane of the roadway when a commercial semi-truck approached from behind and failed to control its speed, hitting the rear of the car.
The driver and passenger in the Toyota were reportedly taken to an area hospital and treated for minor injuries. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Truck Accident on Delta Dr in El Paso
Reports sounds like this crash was mostly a fender-bender in nature. While it's obviously serious to read a big rig traveled too fast and rear-ended a compact car, apparently both vehicles were operable and driven away from the scene and the only reported injuries were minor.
Obviously I hope reports have their facts straight about all that--particularly the nature of the injuries--but I can't help but have my doubts. I've seen hundreds of commercial truck accidents over the years, including many where the aftermath was written off by police or news sources. In a few of those cases it was later found that injuries believed to be "minor" were actually anything but.
I once worked on a case where a big rig rear-ended our client and he thought he only got a sore back out of it, only to find out within a couple of weeks that he had spinal trauma--a ruptured disk that caused him enormous pain. The injury's true nature took a short while to show, but at first he and everyone else thought it was negligible. He ended up needing major surgery and lengthy rehab for it, though, all while the at-fault trucking company and insurers argued against giving him the help he needed. When all was said and done very little about his experience was "minor."
I'm not saying the El Paso wreck is the same. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone, client or not, and there's no particular reason to think anything like it will happen here. I only mean to say that in case things aren't quite what they seem at first it's important to take a truck accident seriously from the start. That means investigating it carefully and finding clear evidence of what really occurred, all to be sure that the right parties are held accountable if needed. "Better safe than sorry," as they say, and these crashes are no exception.
[jump]
