EDINBURG – An apparent single-vehicle accident has claimed the life of an Edinburg teenager. According to Edinburg Police, 19-year-old Ruben Zepeda III died in a hospital February 17 due to injuries he sustained in a car crash two days earlier.
Zepeda was taken to the hospital on February 15 following an accident that occurred about 9:00 p.m. on North I-69C at Ramseyer Rd.
According to a city news release, Edinburg police responded to the crash and found Zepeda inside his crashed vehicle, and that no other vehicles appeared to have been involved. The report stated that Zepeda had sustained a “serious injury.” He was initially reported in stable condition, but died two days later.
Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Who is liable for a single-vehicle accident?
Single-vehicle accidents are often assumed to be the fault of the driver, but in reality, one-car crashes can result from other factors, such as poor road maintenance, owner negligence, maintenance company negligence, or manufacturer negligence.
A driver is liable for a single-vehicle accident only when their actions are the “proximate cause” of a crash. Proximate cause means their actions were the leading cause of the crash. An example would be a driver who is speeding or simply driving too fast under adverse road or weather conditions.
Other causes
Single-vehicle crashes can be caused by other factors. Another driver may have pulled out in front of the crash victim and then left the scene of the accident. A manufacturing defect may have cause the vehicle to malfunction and crash. A defective tire could also lead to crash. A government entity may have failed to fix a hazardous road condition in a timely manner, and the hazard may have caused the accident.
Seek legal help
Any of the above parties may be liable if their negligence was the proximate cause of the crash. Determining who is liable for a single-vehicle accident is not always easy, especially if the victim dies as a result of the crash and there is no one who witnessed the accident.
By definition, a single-car accident involves just one vehicle; however, this does not always translate to just one party being liable for the accident. For this reason, if you have been injured you should consult the personal injury attorneys at the J. Gonzalez Law Firm as soon as possible. They can review the accident investigation and determine if the case should be examined more closely.
Call us at 1-800-CAR-CRASH for a free consultation to make sure your rights are protected.
