Saveion Lewis Killed in Motorcycle Accident on Eastex Fwy in Harris County, TX
Harris County, TX — June 18, 2022, motorcyclist Saveion Lewis died in a collision with another vehicle on the Eastex Freeway in Harris County.
According to reports the incident happened Saturday afternoon along the Eastex Freeway near Little York Road. Preliminary investigation suggests Lewis was riding a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle south on the freeway at alleged high speeds when he lost control and hit the rear-left quarter of a nearby Toyota Tundra.
The impact caused the bike to rebound and it crashed into a concrete barrier. The Toyota also lost control and hit the east barrier, then spun out and stopped on the shoulder.
Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene. The Toyota driver and an 8-year-old in the truck were taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation continues. No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Saveion Lewis Accident in Harris County
UPDATE (August 4, 2022): Later reports indicate the motorcyclist who lost his life in this crash had a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of .294 at the time. I don't say that with any judgment, and I stand by my prior remarks about how important it is not to blame motorcyclist just because of their chosen vehicle. However, confirmation that the driver was significantly over the legal limit for intoxication may someone else should be held responsible for his tragically-fatal injuries.
Texas dram shop law holds businesses that over-serve alcohol to their customers liable for the injuries those customers cause or suffer while intoxicated. Not every DWI accident starts with a law-breaking bar, but finding out whether a dram violation happened is an important and often-neglected step during an investigation.
Unfortunately police investigations rarely extend past the people involved in a crash, so if a bar is suspected of misbehavior it's better to seek help proving that from someone else. With the details independent investigators find for them, many people hurt by reckless over-service have held bad businesses accountable for the terrible damage they helped do.
ORIGINAL: Police mentioned speeding as a possible factor here, which is certainly a common issue in all sorts of collisions. My concern, however, is how investigators reached that conclusion here and whether they truly gave the victim the benefit of the doubt to which he is entitled.
Quite frankly, motorcyclists get a bad rap as reckless daredevils no matter how safe the majority of them are. As a result, some investigators are too quick to assume a rider did something wrong without actually verifying the facts of a given crash. I've seen plenty of cases where police immediately said a rider did something wrong only for something else to eventually be called the proximate cause of a wreck.
To be crystal clear, I'm not accusing the Toyota driver of any wrongdoing here. I only mean that extenuating circumstances--bad road conditions like water or debris, a mechanical failure in the bike, or even just one vehicle or the other nudging too close to the lane dividing line--could have contributed to what happened. Pinning everything on speeding without digging deeper for all the facts seems premature.
That's why I frequently suggest independent investigations instead of relying solely on police reports. The best way to learn the whole truth is by finding the clear and indisputable facts of the matter, then letting them tell the story. The victim's loved ones deserve no less.
