A pickup driver was struck and killed along the Eastex Freeway early in the morning on September 14. The tractor-trailer driver who struck him reportedly said he didn’t see the man before running into him.
The fatal crash occurred just before 1:00 a.m. along the southbound portion of the Eastex Freeway just outside of Greens, Texas. According to witnesses, the 40-year-old driver had been driving his black 4-door pickup within the middle lane of the highway immediately prior to the crash. He reportedly then stopped in the middle of the roadway and turned on his hazard lights.
As the pickup’s driver did this, he apparently didn’t notice an 18-wheeler that was fast approaching his vehicle from behind. It was soon thereafter that the tractor-trailer’s operator collided with the pickup along what’s being referred to as a dimly lit portion of the highway.
The impact was so forceful that it caused the vehicle to spin. Photographs taken at the crash scene show the pickup turned sideways perpendicular to the roadway’s center concrete barrier. The truck was completely mangled from every direction. As for the tractor-trailer, the impact was forceful enough to have broken its front bumper.
By the time officers arrived on the scene, the pickup driver had succumbed to his injuries. The 18-wheeler driver remained unharmed in the crash.
The tractor-trailer’s driver maintains that he didn’t see the pickup with its hazard lights on prior to crashing into the man. Photographs from the crash scene show various street lights illuminating this portion of the highway. It’s unclear if he’ll face any charges for his role in causing the fatal crash.
Incidents in which a motorist stalls and is later rear-ended by another motorist are quite common. When this type of crash occurs on highways, it more often than not results in the motorist’s death. Wrecks that occur on highways often are fatal because motorists are traveling at high rates of speed.
If your loved one has been killed in a tractor-trailer crash, a Houston truck accident attorney can advise you regarding the many legal remedies available to help recover funeral costs, lost wages and other damages.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “One dead in Eastex Freeway truck wreck,” Keri Blakinger, Sep. 14, 2017
