James Langston Injured in Single-Vehicle Wreck on FM 60 in Burleson County, TX
Burleson County, TX — June 18, 2022, 38-year-old James Langston was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on FM 60 in Burleson County.
According to reports the incident happened around 5:15 p.m. on FM 60 near County Road 428. Preliminary investigation suggests Langston was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer north on the roadway at alleged unsafe speeds when he entered a curve. The Chevy crossed the divider line into the oncoming lane and Langston over-corrected, causing the SUV to side-skid. It slid into the east bar ditch, then hit a mailbox and overturned.
Langston was ejected in the rollover and suffered serious injuries.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on James Langston Accident in Burleson County
I often find that authorities and the public in general don't pay much attention to single-vehicle crashes like this one. They just assume the driver was careless, speeding or messing with their phone--indeed, investigators specifically mentioned speeding in relation to this crash.
As common as issues like those are, anything from a medical emergency to a defective auto part to hazardous road conditions can cause a wreck like this. Investigations must be thorough enough to consider such possibilities and others. Even details that are in the reports are worth further scrutiny, as they're not always as simple as they may seem.
Take for example investigators' claims that the victim wasn't wearing his seat belt in Burleson County. That's not illogical since he was ejected, and I'm not saying I know differently. However, it has been my experience that police will say that without actually verifying it, only for closer investigations to show the seatbelt simply didn't work right and the victim's injuries were partly due to its failure.
The belt's locking mechanisms might have failed or the buckle coupling could have broken, for example. I've even seen a crash where a truck driver's entire seat assembly fell out of his vehicle during a crash. Even when they found his seat near him, police still chalked up his ejection to not wearing a seat belt.
Maybe nothing like that happened here, but preliminary reports and a once-over at the scene likely won't clear that up. I wouldn't consider anything less than extensive independent accident reconstruction to be sure the whole truth is know. The victim deserves no less and should absolutely get the benefit of the doubt unless clear evidence says otherwise.
