Jeremy Woodruff Injured in Auto Accident on Western St in Amarillo, TX
Amarillo, TX — August 31, 2022, 45-year-old Jeremy Woodruff was seriously injured in a traffic accident on Western Street in Amarillo.
Authorities say the incident happened around 6:10 a.m. on South Western at Interstate 27. Preliminary investigation suggests Woodruff was driving a Jeep Wrangler east on the roadway when he allegedly started to turn left at the I-27 frontage road with a yellow light. Investigators allege he failed to yield and the turning Jeep was hit on its passenger side by a westbound Honda Odyssey minivan.
Woodruff was reportedly ejected in the crash and suffered serious injuries. The Honda's occupants were unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
I have no reason to second-guess investigators about the supposed cause of the collision, but I do wonder whether they gave much thought to verifying the cause of the victim's injuries. In my experience accidents with ejection are quickly chalked up to someone not wearing a seat belt, but people would be surprised how often safety devices simply fail during they moments they're needed most. If the belt's pretensioner didn't fire or it snapped during the collision that's obviously much different than the victim not using it, but usually when police find someone anywhere but snugly in their seat they assume that person wasn't buckled up.
In all fairness that's probably the simplest explanation for what happened. My point is only that it's often taken for granted, when in fact more thorough investigations might learn something different. Hopefully someone made sure to check out all the possible factors here.
