In confrontations between vehicles and pedestrians, there is little debate about which party will come out ahead. American roadways are inherently dangerous to drivers and passengers, but the risk of accidents involving vehicles is never more pronounced than in a pedestrian accident. A terrible incident in May is illustrative of the hazards that can come with walking on Texas roadways.
The incident involves a 50-year-old bus driver who was working as a substitute driver for a Texas school system. Reports indicate that she was unfamiliar with the bus route to which she had been assigned on the day of the crash. A 75-year-old man attempting to cross the road at an intersection was struck by the bus and killed.
At the time of the incident, the bus contained more than two dozen students, none of whom were injured. The driver was also uninjured in the crash. In the months following the accident, the driver remains listed as an employee of the school district, but she has not driven a bus since.
The bus was equipped with a video camera which was recording at the time of the incident. Following police review of the footage, it was asserted that the driver was reading some papers stacked in her lap. Surveillance footage from a nearby store also shows the driver looking down and not at the road.
The driver has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, and has been released on a bond of $5,000. As for the family of the Texas man killed in pedestrian accident, they will likely follow the case as it makes its way through the criminal court. Should they decide to move forward with a civil suit for wrongful death, evidence of negligence presented during the criminal trial, including but not limited to the video footage, may be offered as evidence in any related civil case.
Source: statesman.com, “Galveston bus driver charged in pedestrian death,” July 27, 2012
