Jack County, TX — March 22, 2024, Tommy Bates was killed following an 18-wheeler accident early Friday morning along U.S. Highway 380.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the accident happened just outside of Bryson on eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 380.
According to officials, 80-year-old Tommy Bates was in a pickup going along eastbound lanes of the highway. Up ahead, it appears a tractor-trailer was “backing up unsafely” and blocking both directions of travel. As the trailer was in the eastbound lane, Bates’s pickup crashed into it.
Due to the collision, Bates sustained fatal injuries. There were no other reported injuries. Authorities apparently recommended the truck driver be charged for Criminal Negligent Homicide.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
To be blunt, backing up on a highway is not a routine maneuver. I’ve known companies to fire drivers for doing something like this. If these allegations are true, then it’s essential to ask why a driver would find it necessary to take such a risk. With crashes like what’s described here, it may not simply be a case of poor judgment by a driver but rather a huge red flag concerning their employer’s operational practices.
In my experience, a lot of trucking companies ignore or actively encourage reckless driving. For example, companies often have rigorous schedules, and drivers sometimes take shortcuts to meet these. This could involve things like speeding, skipping necessary breaks, or, as allegedly happened here, maneuvering a vehicle in a manner not suitable for a highway. Such decisions are rarely spur of the moment. They’re usually behaviors ingrained by a dangerous environment which could be putting multiple reckless drivers on the road.
So what happened here, then? Was this just a momentary lapse in reason, or is there a larger problem that requires more than just putting an individual driver in front of a judge? Perhaps more importantly, are authorities ensuring that no one is let off the hook for a man losing his life?
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