Texting Driver Kills 13 in Head-On Crash With Church Bus

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) June 14, 2017 – A pickup truck driver hit a church bus on U.S 83 in Uvalde County, Texas. A 20-year-old driver admitted, to witnesses, on the scene of the head-on collision that he had been texting.

A white Dodge pickup truck driver who had been spotted weaving from lane-to-lane on U.S. 83, by another driver, caused the fatal head-on collision with a church bus. The witnesses of the accident, the second driver and his passenger recorded the Dodge jerking from lane to lane while making contact with the police. The video became part of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of the wreck.

The pickup truck driver hit the small First Baptist Church bus head-on as it rounded a curve. The group of 14 were on their way back from a retreat. The bus driver had nowhere else to go to avoid the collision due to a guardrail. Most of the passengers in the converted 2004 Ford Econoline church bus had been wearing seat belts. However, only one person made it out of the crash alive, a 64-year-old woman who underwent surgery at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. The Dodge pickup driver was taken to the University Hospital in San Antonio and was listed in fair condition.

The crash was a haunting reminder of the need for a state-wide texting while driving ban. During this legislative session, Texas House Bill 62, which bans texting while driving, has passed through the Texas House of Representatives. Unfortunately, it has sat in the Senate and it looks that the bill will not be passed into law. The author of Bill 62, Rep. Tom Craddick, (R-Midland) stated he was “saddened by the loss of life and appalled to learn that this crash could have been prevented if the driver of the truck had been paying attention to the road.”

“This accident should never have happened,” said Austin wrongful death attorney Brooks Schuelke, not involved in the case. “The families of those who perished in this wreck would be best advised to reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss their legal rights and talk about filing a wrongful death lawsuit.”

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