Fred Bandy Dies in Fort Worth, TX, Motorcycle Accident
Fort Worth, TX -- January 11, 2017, Fred Bandy suffered fatal injuries due to an accident in which his vehicle struck a deer on a road near Lake Worth.
Fort Worth emergency teams responded to the 9800 block of Watercress Drive, next to Camp Joy Park. The incident occurred around 12:30 p.m.
According to authorities, 53-year-old Bandy was driving a motorcycle down the roadway along the lake. As he did so, a deer reportedly ran into his path, and he couldn't avoid it in time. The animal and the vehicle collided, ejecting Bandy onto the roadway.
Emergency teams came out to the scene, and they rushed Bandy to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital for treatment. Authorities say he died shortly afterward.
At this time, investigators have not indicated any extenuating factors involved in the accident. No further information is available.
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Commentary
It's truly unfortunate when an accident like this occurs. No one can reasonably expect an animal to suddenly enter their path while driving. You can't plan for it; you can only react. The fact the victim was on a motorcycle just made the scenario that much more dangerous. Oftentimes when I see motorcycle accidents, I make sure to consider how vulnerable these riders are on the roadways. A lot of people see "motorcycle accident," and they automatically assume that the motorcyclist was the one at fault. This is a common bias that many people have against motorcyclists, and it typically comes from a simple lack of information.
Many people think of motorcyclists as speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, dangerous drivers that create hazards on the roadway. We've all seen some guy on sports bike with no helmet barreling down the shoulder past a line of traffic. However, this is far from the majority. Our firm has represented several motorcyclists over nearly three decades, and all of them have been incredibly safety conscious drivers. Considering they are surrounded by vehicles at least 4 times as massive as they are, it's no wonder they're careful on the roads.
People don't always consider that things like debris in the roads, drivers cutting them off, and--as we see here--unexpected obstacles in the roadway often cause motorcyclists to crash. Instead, they see incomplete, early reports of an accident and fill in the blanks with their own preconceptions of how motorcyclists behave. If people reserved judgement until they knew all of the facts, they'd see what I see every day: the majority of motorcyclists are responsible drivers. It might not be easy to convince people of this, but with the proper evidence and determination, people can be convinced of this fact.
--Grossman Law Offices
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