Ana Maria Coutino Injured in Truck Accident on I-10 in San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX — November 30, 2022, 53-year-old Ana Maria Coutino and two toddlers were injured in a crash with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 10 in San Antonio.
Authorities say the incident happened around 4:15 p.m. on I-10 near FM 1518 North. Preliminary investigation suggests a Freightliner semi-truck was towing a trailer west on the highway access road and began to enter I-10 via a ramp. Investigators believe the truck driver failed to yield to Coutino's Kia Sorento, which was already established in the outside westbound highway lane. The truck entered the lane and collided with the Kia, causing the car to overturn on its roof.
Two 3-year-olds in the Kia were seriously injured in the crash. Coutino reportedly received minor injuries. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Investigators make it sound like the truck driver barreled onto the freeway and tried to muscle into a lane while someone was already there. I have no particular reason to doubt that, having seen motorists of all kinds do similar things at on-ramps, but it's a little troubling to think that someone who supposedly had extra training and a special license still pulled such a dirty move--one that injured two small children, no less.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear the trucker or his employer offer a different version of events where he's essentially blameless, though. The I-10 crash would be a far cry from the first I've seen where a trucking firm digs in its heels and insists that investigators (and victims) got it wrong. They're not wrong every time, but in my experience they argue whether they have a leg to stand on or not. The best way to settle such disagreements is to find the objective facts that the whole and real story. Did police go to the necessary lengths to get those?
