Greenville, TX — A 12-year old girl and her mother were hospitalized after a pedestrian accident in Greenville, Texas, on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. The accident took place in front of the Garden Park Apartment Homes, early in the morning.
Reports say that a man was driving a Toyota Corolla near the entrance to the apartment complex and when he began coughing. The coughing distracted him from the road, and he claims that when he finished he looked up to see a school bus that had stopped in front of him.
The man swerved right to avoid a collision, but slid into the apartment complex’s entrance, hitting a 12-year old girl and her mother who were standing there.
Both the girl and her mother were taken to Hunt Regional Medical Center. Their names have not been released, and there’s been no update on their condition.
The accident is currently being investigated. As of yet, no charges have been brought against the man.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
I didn’t witness this accident, so I obviously can’t say for sure, but in my experience, excuses like coughing or sneezing or having the sun in one’s eyes are usually excuses meant to mask the fact that a driver just wasn’t paying enough attention to the road. Say the driver did start coughing. How long is he going to take his eyes off the road before looking back? A school bus can’t stop on a dime. It has to slow down. So if nothing else the driver should have been able to see the bus beginning to stop. Again, I wasn’t there, so I can’t be certain. I just don’t know if this is a very plausible story. And I don’t think it excuses this driver from liability for this girl and her mother’s injuries.
— Grossman Law Offices
