All too often, commercial vehicles present a hazard on the roads in Texas. Usually when we think of trucking accidents, we think of 18-wheelers colliding with automobiles in rural parts of the state. However, not all truck accidents look the same. In fact, just last week there was an accident in downtown Houston involving a dump truck and a light-rail train.

Apparently, the driver of the dump truck ran through a red light on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. and crashed into a METRO light-rail train. There were 15 people aboard the train, including the driver, who had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. The driver of the dump truck was reportedly ticketed for running through the traffic light.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County said that luckily no one was seriously injured in the accident, but the crash caused the train to derail and the dump truck ended up crashing into the patio of a downtown Houston restaurant. It appears that no one at the restaurant was injured.

Reportedly, the driver of the dump truck said that he did not see the red light because the sun was reflecting off of it. The dump truck had been traveling west on Capitol Street when it crossed onto the tracks and was hit by the southbound train, which had the right-of-way.

Ironically, the driver of the dump truck was employed by a subcontractor to carry sand for the construction of another light-rail line in the city.

Even though nobody was serious injured in the accident, it is possible that the driver of the dump truck and his employers could face personal injury claims brought by the people who were injured in the accident. Personal injury claims are intended to compensate the victims of accidents involving negligence.

Source: Houston Chronicle, "Metro train and dump truck collide downtown," Dale Lezon and Carol Christian, Oct. 4, 2011.