Eric Benson Injured in Truck Accident on Chandler Road in Hutto, TX
Hutto, TX — June 28, 2022, 48-year-old Eric Benson was injured in a crash with a commercial truck on Chandler Road in Hutto.
According to reports the incident happened around 9:20 a.m. on Chandler at FM 1660. Preliminary investigation suggests a Volvo semi-truck was towing a trailer north on FM 1660 when it approached the Chandler intersection where it had a stop sign.
Reports indicate the truck driver failed to yield the right-of-way to Benson's eastbound Ford C-Max hybrid and the car crashed into the semi-trailer.
Benson suffered serious injuries in the crash. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Eric Benson Accident in Hutto
If reports are accurate this crash seems fairly straightforward--a truck driver failed to yield to oncoming traffic. It's still important to clarify exactly why that happened, but no matter what's discovered I have a feeling the trucker's employer will sing a different tune entirely.
Crash victims often call the firm after wrecks like this when they find out a police report isn't enough by itself to get a trucking company's cooperation. When they approached the company with such a report, they learned it sent its own investigators and used what they found to argue either a) their employee did nothing wrong or b) his actions at least weren't the real cause of the victim's injuries. In either event, their response to most victims' requests for help is to tell them to kick rocks. Preparing for that pushback can make a lot of difference.
For example, not long ago a similar crash came across my desk. An 18-wheeler turned into the path of a car on the highway, causing a serious crash and injuring our client. Police faulted the trucker, but his company denied responsibility. They said the victim was speeding, didn't have his seatbelt on, and "took faulty evasive maneuvers," all of which put together were more directly responsible for his injuries than the trucker's carelessness was.
Defenses like those can derail an unprepared victim, but that one had us in their corner so we got to work dismantling those arguments. First we reconstructed the vehicles' speeds with forensic evidence; the car's speedometer froze on impact, telling us the victim wasn't speeding. We also learned the truck's reflective tape was so dirty that it was practically useless, meaning the trailer would have been harder to see late at night when the crash occurred. To top things off, several EMS responders testified that they had to cut through the victim's seatbelt to get him out of the car, meaning it was fastened properly during the collision.
Only after we poked holes in all those defenses did the company finally agree to help. Maybe the firm behind the Hutto truck wouldn't be so stubborn, but it's best not to bank on that. Almost every commercial wreck has challenges to overcome because trucking companies have a great deal to lose if they're found liable, so they fight like hell.
For victims and families to get the help and justice they deserve, they need to arm themselves with the right evidence, allies, and legal tools. Will those steps be taken after the Hutto wreck?
