A Texas man will go to jail for 15 years after he purposefully swerved his car into a passing motorcycle. A couple on the motorcycle was attempting to make a pass, when video footage caught the man swerve directly into their path. Earlier this month, a trial by jury convicted the man of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The accident happened in October 2015, and the 68-year-old driver has been in jail since that time awaiting the completion of his trial. The man will stay in Hood County Jail until he is transferred to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison to complete the rest of his sentence.
The driver might not have been convicted if it weren’t for video footage recorded by another motorcyclist that had been following the couple. The video shows the motorcycle passing the 68-year-old man’s vehicle. Then, the vehicle jerked suddenly to the left and collided with the bike. Both the motorcycle driver and his girlfriend crashed onto the asphalt road and suffered injuries as a result.
The motorcyclists accused the man of striking them on purpose after the accident. In response, he yelled, “I don’t care!” But later, he offered an explanation in court that he swerved because of a spider bite.
Video footage during a serious car accident can be very helpful to bring the at-fault party to criminal justice. Sometimes, Texas residents have “dashcams” that record roadway activity. Other times, video footage can be pulled from municipal surveillance cameras placed at intersections. This footage can also be used in civil court by car accident victims seeking financial compensation from an at-fault party for their injuries and other damages.
Source: Chron, “Texas man who swerved into motorcycle in viral video sent to prison for crash,” John Boyd and Heather Leighton, April 03, 2017
Michael Zimmerman
Michael was born in Houston, Texas. His education at Baylor and Texas State Universities earned him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987. His major was in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. He finished his legal education at Texas Southern University in 1990, earning a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990.
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