Family Sues after Distracted Driver Kills Pedestrian Teen in Northwest Austin

The family of a 14-year-old boy killed in a pedestrian accident has filed a lawsuit against the alleged killer, claiming that negligence was the primary cause of the boy’s death. The accused is a 19-year-old man who is blamed for driving over the speed limit, failure to yield, failure to slow down at a yellow traffic light and using his cellphone while driving.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Rustic Rock and Spicewood Springs around 10pm on the night of June 7, 2016. The boy was walking his bicycle through a crosswalk when he was struck.

The family is also suing the city, claiming that the traffic lights at the intersection where the boy was killed were faulty. The button that activates a protected walk signal did not function as it should have, meaning the child had no way of notifying incoming drivers that he was doing to cross. The city, according to the lawsuit, admitted that the flashing yellow/red lights at that intersection and others were modified to work that way because 50 percent of the detection equipment at Austin intersections does not work as intended.

Distracted Driving

Cellphones are one of the biggest causes of distracted driving crashes in Austin. While there are many causes of distracted driving, cellphones are a risk because they fall in all three categories of distraction:

1. Visual – distractions that take your eyes off the road
2. Manual – distractions that take your hands off the wheel
3. Cognitive – distractions that take your mind off the task of driving

If you have been injured due to a driver distracted by a cellphone, contact an Austin personal injury lawyer.