Pedro Yanez Reyes Killed in Truck Accident on Military Highway in Los Indios, TX
Los Indios, TX — January 11, 2023, 75-year-old Pedro Yanez Reyes died in a collision with a tractor-trailer on Military Highway in Los Indios.
Authorities say the incident happened on the highway (US-281) near Del Rio Drive. Preliminary investigation suggests that Yanez Reyes was driving a Nissan Altima south on Del Rio when he reached a stop sign at the US-281 intersection. Investigators allege he started forward but failed to yield to an eastbound Peterbilt 18-wheeler; the truck then crashed into the car's driver side. After the impact both vehicles ran off the road to the south and came to rest.
Yanez Reyes was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
I often see people make the mistake of taking preliminary reports as the gospel truth of an accident. Investigating officers generally get the basics of "who hit whom" right, but in many cases their conclusions about how and why things went that way end up off the mark. It's important to take their suggestion that the victim failed to yield seriously, of course, but also with a grain or two of salt. In my experience the specifics of a crash like this don't always fit neatly into a particular box.
I can't begin to count how many times authorities blamed a crash on driver mistakes like speeding or inattention, only for more thorough investigations to reveal they just went with their "gut feelings" after a once-over—or just chose a plausible common factor and looked no further. I think most would agree that only clear facts and evidence, not guesswork, should ultimately tell the story of how a man sadly lost his life. His loved ones deserve no less, so I hope authorities' findings satisfied them.
