Woman Injured in Tractor-Trailer Accident on US 59 in Harrison County, TX
Harrison County, TX -- May 13, 2022, one person was injured as the result of an accident where their vehicle crashed into a tractor-trailer on US 59.
Authorities reported that the crash took place at around 9:18 p.m. along US Highway 59 at the intersection of FM 1186/Harris Road.
Officials said that a 56-year-old Dickinson woman was in a vehicle traveling northbound along the highway. At Harris, authorities said that a southbound tractor-trailer failed to yield making a left turn, resulting in a collision.
The woman sustained incapacitating injuries, reports said. Right now, additional details about the crash are unavailable.
Commentary on Tractor-Trailer Accident on US 59 in Harrison County
Yielding to oncoming traffic should be just about the simplest thing one could expect a professional truck driver to do. The fact this went so wrong brings up all kinds of red flags, and they usually lead to evidence the truck driver wasn't paying attention to the road. That could be something obvious like cell phone usage or something a bit more complex like the driver working under unsafe conditions. Making this distinction can be crucial for victims in need of help.
Not long ago, for example, I handled a situation in which a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. He'd been driving for over 20 hours straight, which is just beyond egregious. As we kept digging, it turned out he did so because his employer expected him to meet a ludicrous deadline. In fact, the company would routinely set these deadlines for drivers. They didn't care about the rules nor the safety of others--even their own drivers. All they cared about was getting as much work done as possible no matter what the cost.
Well, the obvious cost was the safety of the public. It was just a matter of time before someone got hurt. That's why folks can't just take reports at face value. Even if reports show that this truck driver messed up, finding out why they messed up can show there are more severe consequences to pursue. To be clear, I can't say if anything like that happened here, and it's even possible this is an unusual situation the truck driver couldn't avoid. But getting people he help they need means getting them clear answers, and that's not likely to happen without more thorough independent accident reconstructions.
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