Carthage, TX — September 18, 2024, 21-year-old Samantha Griffith was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on South Shelby Street in Carthage.
Details about the accident are limited, but preliminary reports say it happened around 3:45 p.m. on South Shelby Street near Hayden Street. Investigators believe Samantha Griffith was driving a Chevrolet Spark south on the roadway when she allegedly fell asleep. The car then drove through the oncoming lane and onto the roadside, where it hit a culvert and overturned. As the Chevy rolled, Griffith was ejected.
Griffith received serious injuries in the accident and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
No further details are currently available.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Police have mentioned fatigue as a factor in the crash, and if reports are accurate the victim may even have admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. When something like that happens, people tend to think there’s little else to say. However, it’s always important to remember that the cause of a crash and the cause of someone’s injuries aren’t always the same thing.
For example, I remember a case where a woman rear-ended a semi-truck at low speeds and sustained major injuries. Authorities wrote off the wreck as being due to driver inattention, but it stood out to us that the woman’s injuries seemed far too severe for the fairly minor impact that occurred. Looking more carefully into what happened, we ultimately learned that her airbag was defective and caused her much worse injuries when it deployed.
That’s obviously a very uncommon situation, and nothing says the situation in Carthage has hidden factors, but hopefully the point is clear: Thorough investigations are always important. Letting the evidence tell the whole story is the best way to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. I don’t see why this accident would be an exception to that.
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