One Injured in Crash with HFD Pumper Truck on Gulf Fwy in Houston, TX
Houston, TX -- May 23, 2022, one person was injured when a car collided with a Houston Fire Department truck off the Gulf Freeway in Houston.
Authorities say the incident happened around 3:35 p.m. on the 13400 block of the freeway near Conklin Lane. Preliminary investigation suggests only that the fire truck was in service at another scene when a passenger vehicle, thought to be a Dodge Charger, approached and crashed into the back of it for unknown reasons.
One person from the car was injured and transported to a nearby hospital. No other injuries were reported.
The wreck remains under investigation. No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Fire Truck Accident on Gulf Freeway in Houston
The way the news describes this crash it sounds like firefighter were minding their own business attending to a primary scene when a motorist came along and plowed into the back of their truck. A police spokesman apparently added that's the third time this week a similar incident has occurred.
Commenters on those news sites wasted no time blaming the driver for being distracted (or in a few cynics' cases, drunk). If things happened as the news indicates and the fire truck was at the scene blocking the road, possibly with its lights on, those theories may seem reasonable. However, as always I have to discourage jumping to any conclusions before more facts can be found by investigators. For all anyone knows right now the Charger's driver actually tried to stop but hit wet road or loose debris in the road and lost traction. Rare as it is, the car's brakes could even have failed; those who have experienced brake failure in their own vehicles before know it generally hits at the worst possible time.
I'm not saying I know specifically what happened here better than anyone else. I read the same (frustratingly vague) news releases, and if I'm going to discourage jumping to conclusions it's best that I practice what I preach. In saying there may be other explanations I'm trying to point out that things aren't always as they seem and rushing to judgment really doesn't help the situation for anyone. The injured person deserves the benefit of the doubt here the same as anyone else would unless clear evidence suggests otherwise. In the meantime anyone eager to get involved from the sidelines should focus instead on ways to help the victim recover from their injuries.
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