Tuesday night a little after 11, Rudy Huddleston of Troup, Texas drove his Nissan Sentra into the back of a stopped tractor-trailer truck at the intersection of State Highways 64 and 42. Mr. Huddleston was pronounced dead at the scene of the tragic crash near Henderson in Rusk County. (Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph and KYTX CBS 19, 9/5/13) The East Texas wrongful death truck accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC express their condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Rudy Huddleston.
Mr. Huddleston’s tragic death was the second in a matter of days where a Texas driver fatally rear-ended a stopped tractor-trailer truck at night. Studies have shown that when such fatal truck wrecks occur, more than half the trucks have had previous lighting violations. Accounts of these two tragic wrecks did not indicate whether the trucks had working lights on their trailers or not.
Rudy Huddleston’s death is also one of about 20 Rusk County traffic deaths so far this year. Crash data reveals that traveling on Rusk County roads is about 6 times more deadly than average for U.S. roadways. Our East Texas wrongful death truck accident attorneys note that the average traffic fatality total in the U.S. is 5 per 100,000 people per year. Rusk County in East Texas has a population of only 60,000, but had already seen 17 traffic deaths by July. The numbers were so disturbing that county authorities hosted a summit to try and determine what was behind the disproportional fatality numbers and what to do about it.
By comparison with the current year, TxDOT said that in 2011, 751 crashes occurred in Rusk County. Of those, 12 accidents were fatal. Our East Texas wrongful death truck accident attorneys point out that the county had already surpassed the total number of 2011 Rusk County traffic deaths by the first half of 2013.
Rusk County probably suffers from a confluence of characteristics:
Click the link to read more about the high number of Rusk County traffic deaths and the traffic summit held by authorities there.