Rusk County, TX — December 1, 2023, James Pinkerton was killed and one person was injured following a commercial truck accident on U.S. Highway 79.
Preliminary details from Texas DPS officials say that the crash happened just southwest of Henderson along southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 79.
It appears that 74-year-old James Pinkerton and a 79-year-old man were in a Toyota Echo traveling on the highway. Up ahead, authorities say a tractor-trailer also going southbound “had made a u-turn.” Details suggest the cargo was still in the blocking southbound lanes when the Toyota crashed into it, then ran off-road.
Pinkerton died as a result of the collision. The other person in the Toyota was taken from the scene with unspecified injuries. There were no other confirmed injuries.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
The current information about this crash available to the public leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Generally speaking, a semi-trailer making a u-turn can be dangerous. I’ve even known companies to fire drivers for even attempting such a maneuver just because they’ve decided, like many, that it’s not worth the risk. Even when done legally, it can have deadly consequences.
But ultimately, authorities have yet to really say what happened here. Did the truck use a turn signal? Was it a legal u-turn? What was visibility like? What were road conditions like? How long was the truck making the u-turn before the collision happened?
These are just some of the questions I would expect a proper accident reconstructionist to answer. I can only hope those answers are being looked into behind the scenes so at least the victim’s loved ones can know what happened here and how all of this could have been avoided.
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