Texas is as challenged with the problem of distracted driving as any other state. Distracted driving accidents are becoming more prevalent than even impaired driving events. That may be what caused a pickup truck to cross the median of I-10 in Cibolo and crash into a bus coming in the other direction in a recent tragic accident.
Three people died in the collision and one was injured. All three of the deceased persons were ejected from the pickup truck during the event. The injured person was the driver of the passenger bus, who had to be hospitalized for leg surgery, according to a police source. A 43-year-old woman in the truck had been a mother of four children who was described as someone with a “real big heart.”
Investigators have not determined who was driving the truck nor have they given a reason for the loss of control of the vehicle. The two decedents who were not operating the truck will have wrongful death claims for damages against the truck driver. Those claims are pursued typically by the estate of the decedent on behalf of the next of kin. Forensic investigators will now try to piece together the scenario of events to determine who was driving the truck.
They will also look to reconstruct the events leading up to the collision and the cause of the driver’s loss of control. In Texas, the typical procedure in death cases is for the authorities to issue a final report on their investigation. Given the reported facts currently available, there can be little doubt that the sole cause of the accident was the truck operator and that the bus involved in the collision was apparently not a contributing factor. In distracted driving accidents, the driver who loses control generally is found to be solely at fault.
Source: ksat.com, “Mother of 4, 2 others killed in Cibolo truck-bus crash“, Pilar Arias, Dec. 24, 2016