Austin, TX — November 3, 2024, two people died in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 183 in southeast Austin.
According to authorities, the incident happened around 5:30 a.m. on the 9800 block of U.S. 183. Investigators didn’t release many details except to say two vehicles collided head-on on the highway, causing fatal injuries to both drivers. Reports indicate neither vehicle had other occupants.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information is currently available.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
In a collision like this where there’s little preliminary information, some folks may be tempted to reach their own conclusions. In a head-on crash, for instance, people may infer that one driver or the other crossed over the center line and conclude that person is to blame. However, that hasty decision doesn’t account for the many other possible factors that might have influenced or even outright caused the crash. That’s why it can be helpful after an accident like this to consider some questions, like:
- Will police do a thorough investigation of the accident? Some departments may not provide the resources needed to do a proper and complete accident reconstruction. As a result, officers may end up moving on to other responsibilities before they have all the facts—which means their reports may be missing important details, or some blanks may be filled in with officers’ guesswork. That can be a severe detriment to victims and families trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened.
- Does the vehicle have any sort of defect? As I said before, people may quickly decide that the driver who crossed over just made a costly mistake that led to the collision. Sadly neither party can tell their side of things, so it falls to investigators to consider all the things that might send a vehicle off-course. That includes possible mechanical defects; while not as common as some other possibilities, they happen more often than people might realize. Detecting them just takes specialized training and sensitive equipment that authorities don’t always have access to, meaning officers might not even recognize a vehicle malfunction if they looked right at it.
- Are authorities looking into all electronic data surrounding the crash? Like it or not, much of what we all do every day is recorded one way or another. The evidence contained in cell phones, dashcams, business security footage, and vehicle “black box” information can be crucial in forming a clear picture of the moments leading up to an accident.
That’s far from a complete list of questions to address, of course, but they’re good examples of what information must be gathered to find the whole story. If the victims’ loved ones are satisfied with the answers they get from police, that’s great. If however they still have doubts or feel things aren’t adding up, that may be a sign someone should pick things up where authorities fall short.
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