Amarillo, Texas – An early Thursday morning accident occurred in Amarillo, Texas, resulting in the loss of a man’s life after a semi-truck in the vicinity of Dumas Highway and Cherry Avenue struck him. The Amarillo Police Department has released preliminary details of this accident.
At approximately 12:40 a.m. on Thursday, Amarillo Police Department officers were dispatched to Dumas Highway and Cherry Avenue in north Amarillo in response to a call reporting a crash involving a pedestrian. Upon arrival, officers discovered that emergency medical and fire personnel were already on the scene, assisting 57-year-old Allen Gonzales. Despite the efforts of first responders, Gonzales succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
According to a witness, who was reported to be a friend of Gonzales, the victim had been at the location because his car had broken down on the side of the road. Both individuals were in the area to retrieve property from the vehicle. While Gonzales was in the process of retrieving belongings from the car, he was struck by a semi-truck. The semi-truck involved in the incident reportedly left the scene.
The Driver of The Truck Must be Held Responsible for Killing an Innocent Man
What a senseless tragedy. While we do not know all the facts about this accident, what we do know is troubling and concerning—a pedestrian — killed by a semi-truck driver — who left the scene. The family of Mr. Gonzales deserves to know what happened to cause his death and to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Unfortunately, thousands of pedestrians sharing the streets and roads with drivers are killed each year. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 7,3888 pedestrians died in a vehicle incident in 2021. More measures must be taken to prevent deaths like Mr. Gonzales’. One way to do this is to continue holding all parties responsible for these negligent types of accidents.
Further investigation must reveal why the semi-truck driver hit Mr. Gonzales and why he did not stop to render aid. This leads to the next question: did the trucking company do their due diligence when hiring the truck driver? In other words, did they check this driver’s driving history to make sure he had a record of safety, or did they cut costs by hiring a driver with a less stellar driving past? Did the driver have a history of impaired driving that the trucking company overlooked? If the trucking company knew that the driver wasn’t the safest, they need to be held accountable for placing the public at risk of injury or death.
In addition, a thorough investigation will show if the truck driver was distracted by their phone. We have dealt with similar cases where a truck driver fails to see what’s in front of them due to being on the phone or driving past legal limits, causing a fellow motorist an injury or even death. This is unacceptable behavior, and the trucker must be held accountable accordingly.
There are still too many unanswered questions to know who all is at fault. However, the family of Mr. Gonzales deserves to know what happened and be given a right to hold the trucker and possibly the trucking company responsible for the death of their loved one.
My heartfelt thoughts go out to the Gonzales family.
*******
The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation, with extensive experience in complex auto/tire defect and commercial vehicle cases.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
