Winkler County, TX — May 29, 2024, Adam Viera and one other were injured due to a commercial truck accident at around 10:15 p.m. on Highway 18.
According to officials, the crashed happened at the intersection of Highway 18 and F.M. 874, just north of Kermit.
It appears that 39-year-old Adam Viera and a 41-year-old woman were in a Buick LeSabre that was traveling southbound along the highway. Crossing F.M. 874, authorities say a westbound 18-wheeler ran the stop sign, crashing into the side of Viera’s vehicle. As a result, Viera and his passenger had serious injuries. Authorities recommended the truck driver be cited for running the stop sign.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
If these details are accurate, then it seems pretty clear what happened. The question authorities might not have an answer to, though, is why this happened. Folks tend to think it’s simple enough for authorities to find out what led a driver to run a stop sign, but with commercial truck wrecks, the added complexity of a potential employer can make things a lot more challenging.
For example, distraction is a common reason this sort of crash happens. I had a case a while back where a supervisor would constantly text and call drivers, and if they didn’t respond immediately, they risked losing their jobs. It was inevitable this would lead to someone getting hurt, but that selfish employer cared more about his own micromanaging than the safety of others—even his own employees.
Fatigue is also another common factor in truck wrecks. In another case I handled, our investigations found that the trucking company encouraged reckless driving practices. They set unreasonable deadlines, then rewarded the drivers who cut corners and broke rules to meet those deadlines. This led to a driver driving for over 20 hours straight, and it led to him causing a serious accident. Had he worked for an employer that prioritized their drivers being safe, that likely wouldn’t have happened.
These are just a couple of examples, but across hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases I’ve handled, few were the responsibility of a single individual. The law is nuanced enough to recognize that driver can be responsible their own actions, but the people who employ them have a responsibility to encourage and enforce good behavior. If they fail in that duty, and people get hurt, they’re just as responsible for their actions as the drivers are for theirs. Unfortunately, these details rarely get attention from police investigations. If such behavior played a role in this crash, it might not be clear unless there’s a more thorough independent investigation.
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