Update [October 8, 2014]: The young man in this accident, Hunter Miller, has died from his injuries at a local hospital. The other teen injured, Brayden Welch, was last said to be in good condition. One of the news sources referred to Miller as “Thomas Hunter Miller,” but it’s not clear if that’s his full name.
Odessa, TX — There was a two-car wreck over the weekend that injured two teenagers, one critically, after a pickup truck and a car collided. It happened along Tanglewood Lane and the two teenagers were identified as Hunter Miller and Brayden Welch – both 16 years old.
Police said that Hunter Miller was driving a Ford F-150 pickup truck along Tanglewood, headed south, with Brayden Welch as a passenger. This was at about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, October 5, 2014. A 16-year old girl in a Nissan Maxima was driving along Springdale Drive and came to the intersection with Tanglewood, where she pulled out into the path of Miller’s southbound truck.
The two vehicles collided and both Miller and Welch were taken to a nearby hospital, where Miller was said to be in critical condition. Welch was less seriously injured and it’s not clear if the 16-year old driver of the Nissan was injured at all.
Police said that it looks like the 16-year old girl in the Nissan had pulled up to her stop sign, made a stop, then pulled into traffic without yielding to Miller’s truck.
They’re still investigating the wreck.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
Let me just make some very frank comments here. It looks like the driver of the car that pulled out into traffic was at fault for doing so, but the news photos make it look like both cars ended up in the northbound lanes of traffic – yet the pickup truck had been going south. This might mean several things, but it does suggest that the truck driver tried to take evasive action and steer away from the accident.
Why do I mention this? Well, even with a police report on your side, insurance companies are under no obligation to take your claim seriously and pay for all the damages the other driver caused. We get phone calls and emails all the time from people who were seriously hurt in accidents (or had family members who died in accidents) and complain that the insurance company of the driver who caused the wreck isn’t cooperating. At the end of the day, these guys (insurance companies) are interested in protecting their finances and if they can find a reason to undermine your claim, they will. For example, it’s pretty common for insurance companies to claim that the victim in the accident didn’t do enough to prevent the wreck – aka, taking evasive action.
In this particular accident, it seems pretty obvious that the victim’s truck did take evasive action, but don’t take that for granted and assume the insurance company will see things your way. In reality, the standard police report most people rely on usually isn’t enough to convince insurance companies of what really happened in any given accident. The best way to play hardball with an insurance company is to have a third-party investigation done by experts who know what they’re doing. In an accident that causes critical/major injuries, insurance companies usually get pretty defensive because they know that the medical bills and related costs will be high. Again, they want to save themselves money, even if that means costing you money.
— Grossman Law Offices
Both vehicles were indeed in the northbound lanes of traffic. The white vehicle rested in a south easterly direction in inside lane of northbound Tanglewood Ln. It may have strattled both northbound lanes of Tanglewood. The truck was completely reversed in direction and rested more on than off the curb of the outside lane of northbound Tanglewood. I was nearby visiting a friend. We got there before emergency personnel.
The truck rolled at least once. The directions, as specified by the news you commented on, are what I would characterize as correct according to those who claimed to have seen the accident.
I was using a search engine for updates on the conditions of those injured. This is how I found your blog.
My heart goes out to the families.