A tractor-trailer rear-ended a driver’s F-150, causing the pickup truck to flip and eject the driver, who may not have been wearing a seat belt, according to police, as Eva Ruth Moravec reports for San Antonio Express-News. The tractor-trailer accident occurred this morning on U.S. 90. Both the big rig and the F-150 pickup were westbound.
The tractor-trailer ended up breaking through the metal guardrail and coming to rest on the other side of the eastbound highway, halting traffic starting at Loop 410.
Unfortunately, not only was the driver of the F-150 pickup not wearing her seat belt, but she does not possess a valid driver’s license and “may have been speeding,” as Moravec reports. She is in critical but stable condition. The truck driver was apparently unhurt.
Referring to what may have caused the truck accident, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said, “It appears, at this point, that she saw the lights and hit her brakes to slow down.” The F-150 pickup driver hit her brakes when she saw a police officer in front of her turn on the squad car’s lights and siren and begin to make a traffic stop.
That’s when the tractor-trailer came up from behind and hit her. Despite the apparent fact that the driver (who is unnamed in Moravec’s report) is not licensed and might have been speeding, the driver of the tractor-trailer had a responsibility to avoid hitting her vehicle.
It’s unclear whether the F-150 pickup driver’s driving contributed to the accident or not; in most cases, liability in rear-end collisions is pretty clear.
Source: San Antonio Express-News, “Woman critically injured in West Side crash,” by Eva Ruth Moravec, 06/14/11