Diego Cota Killed, Alexcia Tarwater-Enns Injured in Midland County, TX Car Accident
Midland County, TX — June 3, 2022, 23-year-old Diego Cota was killed in a traffic collision off Tom Craddick Highway in Midland County.
According to reports the incident happened around 4:50 p.m. on the north service road of Tom Craddick at State Highway 158. Preliminary investigation suggests Cota was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe southwest on the service road when he allegedly failed to yield while turning left at the SH 158 intersection. As he entered the crossroads the Hyundai was hit on its driver's side by a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Cota was pronounced dead at the scene. Three people in the Jeep including 23-year-old driver Alexcia Tarwater-Enns were taken to a Midland hospital. Enns reportedly suffered serious injuries and the other two received minor injuries.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Diego Cota, Alexcia Tarwater-Enns Accident in Midland County
Reports say the man who lost his life in this accident failed to yield at the intersection. I have no specific reason to doubt that, but I also notice those reports don't say why that happened. I hope police are working hard to fill in some more blanks.
In the meantime I have a feeling some people will be happy to make some guesses about why the victim didn't yield. After many crashes without obvious causes some folks are all too happy to blame the driver for speeding, getting distracted by a cell phone, or even being impaired.
I'm not saying any of those were necessarily involved in the Midland County wreck, but they're common enough that authorities will probably at least check into them--if only to rule them out. However, I hope they won't limit their attention to just common factors. Unusual circumstances must be considered as well.
For instance, what if a mechanical issue in the victim's vehicle made him lose control? That may seem a bit random, but they happen all the time. For example, consider the infamous GM ignition switch defect that shut down cars' powered features at highway speeds due to little more than a heavy or jiggled keyring. That faulty part caused over a hundred deaths, but the public had no idea for years. Before the truth came out how many folks unfairly blamed the victims for their crashes?
Whether driver error or something else caused this wreck, the key is to get the facts. Were authorities thorough enough to find them, or should independent investigators take another look?
