A newscaster covering a live feed of an accident in downtown Houston looked away from the screen for less than a second and missed another accident that occurred right on camera. The incident occurred on Local 2 News. The newscaster was giving a report on an accident that was being cleared off of the road in downtown Houston when another vehicle came into frame, crashed into an SUV and caused a chain reaction accident when the SUV crashed into a fire truck and flipped over on its side.
Accident Hazards Sometimes Follow the Accidents Themselves
Aside from the fact that news can happen very quickly, there is another lesson to take from this incident. When emergency personnel are clearing off the scene of an accident, the traffic using the highway can sometimes present a major hazard to the emergency workers and to the other drivers on the highway. When drivers fail to slow down enough to avoid crashing into vehicles that are slowed because of the accident, other accidents can result, compounding the original problem.
In many cases, these accidents will be rear end collisions. These happen because the drivers approaching the scene of the accident either do not see what’s going on or because they fail to slow down quickly enough to give themselves a chance to brake before they crash into other cars at the scene. Rear end car accident injuries can be very serious. In many cases, the driver that is struck has no idea that they are about to be struck, giving them no opportunity to try to get out of the way or to take other actions that may lessen the impact. This means that these accidents oftentimes involve one car taking the full force of another car speeding up behind it.
Even at the scene of an accident that has already occurred, drivers are expected to take measures to keep the other drivers with whom they share the roads safe. When they fail to do so, they may be guilty of negligence. If you are injured by a driver who fails to stop or slow properly for any type of an emergency situation on the highway – accident or otherwise – make sure you speak to an attorney about the matter. If they destroy your vehicle, causing medical expenses or worse, there is no reason that you should have to pay the costs of their negligence.
