Renee Garcia Killed, Taylor, McKenzie, Jacob Cureton in Bryan, TX, Accident
Bryan, TX -- January 15, 2017, Renee Garcia was killed, Taylor, McKenzie and Jacob Cureton hurt after an accident where their vehicle went off an overpass.
Texas Department of Public Safety responded to the fatal accident scene at around 2:00 p.m. It happens on the TX-47 overpass at the TX-21 interchange on the northern end of the Texas A&M University System RELLIS.
Their preliminary reports indicate that 53-year-old Garcia was driving a pickup with Taylor, McKenzie, and Jacob--ages 12, 10, and 8 respectively--were passengers. As the vehicle traveled along the TX-47 overpass ramp, it somehow lost control and swerved off the side of the road. As a result, it crashed through the concrete barricade and fell off the overpass to the highway below.
The vehicle landed on its passenger side, inflicting serious injuries. Garcia was fatally injured and pronounced dead at the scene. The children were treated at CHI St. Joseph Health. Taylor was said to be in critical condition.
Authorities say that roads were slick due to heavy rains at the time of the accident. They have not indicated any additional factors involved in the crash.
Investigations are ongoing.
Map of the Area
Commentary
In Texas, it's very common to see a spike in crashes when storms roll through an area. All drivers have a responsibility to adjust their driving in relation to the condition of the road. Reports about this accident have indicated that the vehicle lost control due to hydroplaning, which is certainly a reasonable possibility. At this time, however, reports are still preliminary. It's important that people understand that these reports are far from 100% dependable.
Early reports often are missing details, and sometimes they just plain get facts wrong. Many will read an early accident report and take it as the full account of what happened. Especially with single-vehicle accidents, people tend to automatically assume the driver was at fault. This is unfair to victims and their families since people are jumping to conclusions without the full story. Our firm has seen all kinds of single-vehicle accidents, and there can be a wide variety of factors that can cause them. Some of them are unpredictable, leaving drivers with little to no control over the situation. The article below goes more in-depth about this kind of thing.
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To sum things up, early reports should not be taken as a complete account of what occurred in a given accident. People need to understand that only with information from a thorough investigation can anyone draw conclusions. This accident, as well, will need to be looked at very closely to determine beyond doubt what caused the crash.
--Grossman Law Offices
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