One Injured in 18-Wheeler Accident on N McCarty Street in Houston, TX
Houston, TX -- April 18, 2022, a 38-year-old man was injured in a crash with a commercial truck on North McCarty Street in Houston.
Authorities say the incident happened around 8:25 p.m. on the 4900 block of North McCarty near the North Loop service road. Preliminary investigation suggests the victim was driving a Chevrolet Cruze east on the roadway in the right lane, with a Kenworth tractor-trailer one lane to its left. According to reports, the truck driver attempted to make a wide turn into a nearby parking lot from the left lane and crossed into the Chevy's path, causing the two vehicles to crash in the right lane.
The Chevy driver reportedly received minor injuries in the crash and was taken to an area hospital. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Truck Accident on McCarty St in Houston
Reports make things seem like this crash was largely the truck driver's fault for making an unsafe turn and getting in the car's way. Neither the driver nor his employer are required to agree with that, however, so as always it would be best to conduct a careful and thorough investigation of the crash and gather all its facts. Making sure only those tell the story is one of the best ways to make sure there aren't any "creative" re-imaginings of what happened.
Of course that may be mostly academic since the victim's injuries were reportedly minor. He may not have much interest in pursuing a claim against the trucking firm if he escaped mostly unharmed. I certainly hope that's true, of course, but I also know from long experience in my field that preliminary reports don't always have things straight when they call injuries "minor."
Here's an example: Not long ago I worked on a case where a man's supposedly-minor back injury turned to paralyzing pain within a week of his crash with a big rig. Scans showed that his "sore back" was actually a ruptured spinal disk and its effects just took a short while to really show. Not only did that injury require extensive testing and surgery, but it also took months of legal battles with the at-fault company's insurer before they agreed to help the victim as they should have from the start. Little about his experience was "minor."
I hope nothing like that happens after the Houston accident and there's no particular reason to think it will. However, the possibility that things aren't quite what they seem is one of the reasons I always tell folks they need to take action after any truck wreck--even if its impact seems minimal. At worst a victim is overprepared and no action is necessary, which is always better than the opposite.
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