Gulf Shores, AL — An accident that occurred on Sunday evening in Gulf Shores, Alabama, left two people injured and one dead. The accident took place in the 3700 block of Gulf Shores Parkway.
Robert Picard was driving a along Gulf Shores Parkway and was making a left turn. Joseph Gall and his wife, Christine, were approaching from the opposite direction when they hit the rear of Picard’s vehicle. Melanie Gall died at the scene. Robert Picard and Joseph Gall were both injured. Gall was taken to Sacred Heart in Pensacola and Picard was taken South Baldwin Regional Medical Center.
At this time, it’s unclear why exactly the Gall’s were able to avoid colliding with Picard. The investigation into the collision is ongoing.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
There are two possibilities here. One is that the driver of the car either didn’t give himself enough time to cross the road or wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see the motorcycle heading toward him. The second possibility is that the driver of the motorcycle wasn’t paying attention to the road in front of him and didn’t slow down in time.
This is where it gets tricky, because presumably both drivers should have been able to see at least a few hundred feet of the road in front of them. And if either driver had thought that they maybe didn’t have time to either complete the turn, or pass the car before it made the turn, they had a responsibility to slow and wait until the road was safe before moving forward. In instances like these, things can become a little muddled because regardless of circumstances, drivers still have a responsibility to avoid accidents that are avoidable, even if they’re the fault of the other driver. Things in this particular case will become much clearer once local authorities finish their investigation.
