A Mission man died in the hospital January 13 after being struck by a vehicle while he was riding his motorcycle in Palmview the night before.
The victim is identified as 24 year old Isaiah Angelo Torres of Mission. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Torres was riding his black Yamaha motorcycle north on La Homa Road at around 10:22 p.m. January 12 when a red Chevrolet Cruze crashed into the bike.
Torres was approaching the Chevy in the left lane at the time. The Chevy, which was occupied by a male driver and passenger, was also heading northbound on the center turning lane of La Homa Road and was nearing West Mile 4 Road when it tried to make an “unsafe” right turn onto a private drive east of La Homa.
“The driver of the Chevrolet then turned into the left lane and collided with the Yamaha,” DPS said in the release.
The Chevy’s occupants were transported to Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen with non-life-threatening injuries while Torres was airlifted to DHR Health in Edinburg for surgery.
He had been in critical but stable condition until Saturday, when he was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to DPS.
Troopers said they are continuing their investigation.
Do I have a legal claim if the at-fault driver is not cited?
A traffic citation can be strong evidence that the other driver’s negligence caused your accident, but it is not the only evidence that can show fault. Injured parties can still pursue a personal injury claim to cover the cost of damages even if the other driver was not cited after the accident.
A traffic ticket is just one example of direct evidence of fault. Other forms of direct evidence include the at-fault driver’s statement admitting he or she caused the accident, or one of the at-fault driver’s passengers admitting that the driver was speeding or recklessly operating their motor vehicle.
If there is no direct evidence of fault in your particular case, an astute personal injury attorney may be able to find circumstantial evidence to show negligence or recklessness. Examples of this include:
- The position of the vehicles at the time of the accident
- Traffic conditions
- Damage patterns on the vehicles
- Damage to other property
- Weather and time of day
- Skid marks
- Witness statements
- Photographs
- Impairment due to alcohol or drugs
Contact J. Gonzalez
The personal injury attorneys at the J. Gonzalez Law Firm are experts at poring through traffic accident evidence. Quite often they are able to find and consolidate small pieces of circumstantial evidence to build a solid case against the at-fault driver.
If you have been injured in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation even if the other driver was not issued a citation in the crash. For more information about whether you have a personal injury claim, contact the J. Gonzalez Law Firm today via this website, or by calling 1-800-CAR-CRASH.
Your initial consultation is free, and we don’t charge attorney’s fee unless we win your case!
