One man was killed and another was hospitalized after their cars collided and caught fire on Nov. 15. The accident occurred just before 2:40 a.m. on Farm to Market Road 136 near Bayside.
The deceased man, a 35-year-old Portland resident, was traveling south on FTM 136 in a 2002 Cadillac when his car crossed the centerline and into the northbound lane. A 2012 Dodge Ram pickup truck hauling a trailer was rounding a curve on a hill when the Cadillac entered its path. The pickup’s driver, a 33-year-old Brownsville man, later said that he tried to avoid a collision but was unable to do so. The vehicles collided head-on and came to a stop with the pickup’s front end resting on top of the Cadillac’s front. The crash caused both vehicles to become engulfed in flames.
The Cadillac’s driver was trapped in the car and could not escape. A Justice of the Peace pronounced him dead at about 3:30 a.m. The pickup truck’s driver was able to escape his truck without help. Paramedics transported him to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in good condition. At the time of reports on Nov. 17, he was awaiting surgery for an ankle injury he suffered in the crash.
In some head-on car accidents, a driver might have been distracted, causing him or her to drift into oncoming traffic without realizing it. Sometimes, the driver who became distracted dies while other victims survive, often with injuries of their own. These injuries may require costly treatments such as surgery that leave victims in medical debt and unable to work. Car accident victims may have the option to file suit against the estates of deceased negligent drivers.
Source: Refugio County Press, ‘Portland man dies in fiery wreck,” Tim Delaney, Nov. 22, 2014
Source: Victoria Advocate , “Portland man dies in fiery wreck in Refugio County“, Bianca Montes , November 16, 2014
