Cement Truck Runs Over, Drags University of Texas Student

On Behalf of | Jul 1, 2011 | Truck Accidents |

19-year-old Haifa Abubaker was crossing the street with her bicycle when the driver of a cement truck, who apparently did not see her, ran her over. He also did not realize that he had hit her in the first place, because he dragged Abubaker roughly 40 feet, as Shelton Green reports for KVUE News.

Abubaker lost her right leg in the commercial vehicle accident.

But a man named Patrick Clemen turned out to be Abubaker’s hero. “I heard an enormous crash and looked forward, and there was a girl pinned underneath this cement mixer.”

Green’s report does not specify exactly how Clemen used his belt to save Abubaker; but he “jumped into action,” doing something that apparently saved Abubaker’s life, whether it was alerting the cement truck driver or using his belt as a tourniquet around Abubaker’s injuries.

There were also many people working in nearby businesses and shops who witnessed the crash.

Hole in the Wall bar employee Dennis O’Donnell said, “It was truly horrible. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

According to Green, Texas law enforcement authorities are not planning on pressing any criminal charges against the cement truck driver. Whether Abubaker could make a case against the cement truck driver for negligence depends on a variety of factors, such as whether Abubaker was in a crosswalk or jaywalking.

Source: KVUE News, “Austin man uses his belt to save a woman pinned under a cement truck,” by Shelton Green, 06/30/11