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Pedestrian Safety and Falling Asleep at the Wheel

By Steve Lombardi

From the report it's difficult to comprehend how two pedestrians were killed walking along Texas Highway 21 near Gordon's Auto Salvage in Bryan today. The two pedestrians were from Clarksville and Tomball, the one was 19 and the other 29 years of age.

Witnesses' are reported to have said the driver fell asleep while driving.

Other witnesses pointed to the road design. Apparently the road design causes traffic and pedestrians to come into contact with one another in a very dangerous manner. It sounds like pedestrian traffic walks just off the road in the ditch, while traffic from behind passes cars waiting to turn left, on the right and into the ditch. The report is the pedestrians were walking between the ditch and the asphalt. This complicates the situation somewhat. The police investigation and an independent investigation may be required to know exactly what occurred.

I'm not sure what the road design has to do with this case, if the driver did actually fall asleep. If you're the widow or dependent child of the pedestrians I'm not sure the road design would matter since neither will bring back the pedestrians. If you're so tired that you're falling asleep at the wheel you have no business getting behind the wheel to drive. A tough lesson to learn for sure.

The news report contains the following quote.

'One witness said he saw the pair get hit while he was looking out his office window at Asher's Engine Services. He said he saw the driver run into the ditch and watched as the vehicle 'went flying.'

You have to wonder if this guy had been working or just up late at night. From the witness' description road design doesn't seem to have anything to do with this accident. I contacted Beth Janicek, an attorney in San Antonio to see if she had heard about this incident and knew the intersection. Beth is our contact in San Antonio, Texas. She had not. For questions call Beth Janicek at 1100 NW Loop 410, Suite 550, San Antonio, Texas 78209. 210-366-4949 or email at Beth@bethjanicek.com. If the relatives have questions as to how to file the insurance claims they should feel free to contact Beth.

This is a terrible accident. In any event our prayers and wishes go out to the families involved.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on January 05, 2010 (boomark / email).