Maria Gamez killed by a concrete mixing truck
UPDATE!!!
The driver of the SUV, Maria Gamez, was pronounced dead at the scene. Angelica Gamez, Maria's duaghter and passenger in the Ford Expedition, was freed from the wreckage and has since been released from the hospital. the driver of the motorcycle has survived the crash as well.
Here is the story as it was originally posted:
A cement mixer truck crushed a Ford Expedition on highway 183 in Irving, TX. on April 11, 2008.
Resucue workers are in the process of lifting the concrete truck off of the Ford Expedition to free the small children who are trapped in the back seat of the SUV. The driver of the Expedition, assumed to be the children's mother, has been confirmed to be dead.
A motorcycle is also involved in the accident yet at this point the condidtion of the motorcycle rider is not yet known. We will update this blog as more information becomes available.
Posted by: E. Michael Grossman | Posted on: 4/11/2008
| Comments (4)
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Visitor Comments
Susan Immel said:
My husband and I just saw this on the news and we were shocked! My prayers are with everyone involved! As an attorney what would you advise the family of the victims to do????
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Attorney E. Michael Grossman said:
Susan,
The best advice I can give anyone who has a family member that has just been involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler (or in this case a cement truck) is that they need to contact an attorney immediately.
I can assure you that the insurance carrier for the truck involved in this accident will have already sent an investigator to the scene of the accident to look for evidence to support the actions of the truck driver and ultimately to deny the claim that any of the victims of this accident may have. That's pretty standard protocol.
If you expect to have a fair fight you need to hire an attorney who can coordinate and mobilize an investigation IMMEDIATELY for the purpose of recording and preserving the necessary evidence at the scene of the accident.
I really hope those kids trapped in the wreckage make it out o.k.
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Frank Gonzales said:
I am a truck driver myself and I have a tough time trying to figure out why and how this happened. I bet the motorcycle driver had something to do with this happened.
The truck driver is the only professionel driver on the road. I don't want to brag, but everyone should know that most of the time the truck driver is not at fault, something happened causing the truck driver to make a sudden move.
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Josh from Arlington said:
I'm sorry Frank, but I'm going to have to disagree with you. First of all, you are speculating on the cause of the crash based on your biased perspective as a truck driver. In reality it could have been any of the involved parties fault. Heck, it could have been because of something entirely unrelated to any of their actions (another driver, a strong gust of wind, mechanical failure, etc etc). There are too many possibilities for anyone who is not actively part of the investigation or an eyewitness to claim with any certainty that that they know what happened. The fact that the basis of your claim is that the truck driver is "a professional" is downright laughable. For starters, just because someone is a professional doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. Professional cops shoot the wrong people, professional doctors leave surgical tools in your lower intestine, professional engineers design bridges that collapse, etc etc. Assuming this driver was the greatest truck driver in the history of universe it still would not exclude him from making a mistake. Furthermore, I can't count on both hands how many times one of these so called professionals has shown less than a professional level of skill. I'll give you a few recent examples: I was driving in Florida when a flat bed truck cut across a median and in doing so he ripped the door on his under-trailer tool bin partially off. It shots sparks as he drove down the road. A 4x4 and a few other pieces of wood flew out. One of them hit my car and busted my headlight. I pulled up along side him (not yet knowing the extent of the damage mind you) and motioned for him to roll down his window. He did and I politely yelled to him that the door had come open and that he was dropping debris onto the highway. He said "so what" and gave me the finger. About 10 seconds later the door broke completely off and a car behind him had to swerve and came ridiculously close to rolling his SUV while trying to avoid the flying metal door. Fast forward a couple of months and on the same highway I was traveling in the fast lane going 65 (the speed limit on that rd) and a dump truck was parked on the side of the road at a dead stop. He waited until I got about 150 yards from him and then he pulled on to the highway right into the fast lane going less than 20 mph. I hit the brakes but there was no way I could decelerate 2500 lbs of automobile in time and I crashed right into him. Of course, in his expert opinion I should have just moved out of the way. Too bad the laws of the road state otherwise and not only did he have to buy me a new car he was cited for causing the accident. Not two weeks ago I was driving through Texas and an 18-wheeler was in the slow lane. I was in the lane to his left and all of a sudden with not so much as a single flash from his turn signal he changed lanes right on top of me. Fortunately I was able to take evasive action and avoid getting crushed to death. Maybe a month ago an 18-wheeler took a turn going too fast and flipped over a block from my apartment. On and on ad infinitum and ad nauseum. I acknowledge that you have a tricky profession and god knows that most people out there drive so recklessly that it must make your job that much harder, but there isn't a single valid excuse for any of the idiotic maneuvers that many truck drivers make every single day. If I have a bad day at the office someone might not get an email on time. If a truck driver has a bad day at the office someone might get 80,000 lbs of truck in their lap. With so much more at risk you have a greater responsibility to maintain control. The bottom line is if more truck drivers would follow the rules of the road (yes every driver should do the same, but 90% of the cars on the road aren't paid to be there) then it might seem less absurd to suggest that this accident was someone else's fault while maintaining some semblance of credibility. Based on the fact that every single day some truck driver somewhere screws up and kills or mames someone it makes it a little harder to swallow.
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