Last week, a crash in Lawton, Oklahoma sent one man to the hospital. The wreck happened on Highway 58 near Medicine Park, last Tuesday. A sport utility vehicle (SUV) hit a truck and trailer that was parked beside the roadway. The SUV rolled over after hitting the parked truck and trailer. The driver of the truck and trailer, Dean Holbrook, did sustain injuries, and he was ultimately taken to Comanche County Memorial Hospital. He was reported to have sustained a head wound, and he was described as being pretty banged up. The driver of the SUV, Donald Pearl, had to crawl out of his overturned automobile, but was not taken to the hospital.
Before the collision happened, Holbrook was pulled over on the side of the road to retrieve lost cargo from his trailer. He had a variety of items on his trailer including two duck blinds. One of the duck blinds fell off on a particularly windy stretch of highway. Holbrook did report that ties were used, although ultimately not effectively.
Donald Pearl’s account of the crash doesn’t offer law enforcement officers a lot of details. He reports that as he was driving up the hill, he put his water bottle down, and when he looked up, he had struck Holbrook’s trailer.
Some people think that distracted driving is only when people are texting while driving. In addition to talking, texting and internet browsing on cell phones, a variety of different tasks can be considered distractions behind the wheel. We recently reported on the three types of driving distractions which are visual, manual and cognitive. When eating or drinking in the car, drivers may take one or both hands off of the wheel. This means that eating and drinking are manual distractions. If drivers are also looking at their food or drinks instead of the road, eating and drinking also become visual distractions.
KSWO News Channel Seven reports that law enforcement officers are still trying to determine who was at fault for this crash. Although most people think of distracted driving as texting while driving, distractions aren’t limited to smart phones. If you’ve been injured in a crash that is still under investigation, it’s important to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. An experienced car accident lawyer can stay on top of official investigations and deal with a victim’s pushy insurance company.