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Date: 
Monday, March 30, 2015
Area: 
Austin, TX

A woman in her mid 20s is dead after a crash involving a motorcycle and a car on Monday morning in the 7700 block of FM 2222 just east of Bell Mountain Drive in West Austin. A car turned in front of the motorcyclist, causing the crash. She was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge and pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver of the car is cooperating with police and they are unsure if speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.

 

Date: 
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Aaron Daniel Benson, 25, was driving a Toyota Tacoma west on Avenue J-12 around 11 p.m. Sunday when he collided with several vehicles parked on both sides of the street and then crashed into a home, killing a 71-year-old woman, whom investigators found in her bed, underneath the truck. She was pronounced dead at the scene and was the only person in the home at the time of the collision. Benson was arrested and booked for vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of alcohol.
Date: 
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Passenger Earlie Lee Kepley Jr., has died due to an incident that occured just after 2 a.m. Saturday near Unity Street and Colonial Club Drive when driver Timothy Randall Hulin Jr. failed to stop for law enforcement and crashed into a pond. Hulin faces multiple charges including DWI, felony fleeing law enforcement and driving while license revoked. More charges are pending, and no other information has yet been released.

Shannon Nielson, 38, and her lawyers win her case against a trucking company after she and her fiance were involved in a crash with a truck, taking the life of her fiance and causing her serious injuries

Accident Type: 
Motorcycle Accident
Incident Date: 
Friday, September 23, 2005
Result Date: 
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monetary Result: 
$775,361
On September 23, 2005, Shannon Nielson, a 38-year-old hairstylist, was riding on the back of a motorcycle that her fiance, Troy McDaniel, was driving on the Mt. Rose Highway in the Sierra Nevada range of California. As they were riding on the highway, they came across a flatbed truck operated by Carl McAlister, an employee of the White Cap Construction Supply company. McDaniel grounded the motorcycle to avoid striking the truck, which was making a U-turn on the two-lane highway. The couple skidded on the pavement towards the truck and were run over by its rear wheels. McDaniel died within the hour, however Nielson survived with injuriesto her pervic bone and her wrist. She was bedridden for three weeks and later used a walker and then crutches. Nielson, McDaniel's estate, and his parents decided to sue McAlister and his employer, and its corporate owner, Home Depot USA, Inc. Ten months before the trial, however, McDaniel's parents agreed to a confidential settlement with Home Depot, and were voluntarily dismissed from the trial. Nielson was therefore left as the only plaintiff at the trial. She and her lawyers argued that she and her fiance were traveling at approximately 40 MPH uphill and approached a slight curve. After taking the curve, she reported that she saw a truck positioned across the highway. As her fiance grounded the bike, they were propelled across the pavement into the truck. Subsequently, the trucks rear tires drove over McDaniel's chest and over her right hip. The defendants admitted liability on the first day of trial. Nielson claimed emotional distress at the thought of her open reduction surgery and the trauma related to the moments preceding the accident and at the time of the impact. In addition, the screws placed in her hip caused persistent irritation. As a yoga enthusiast, she can no longer perform certain poses, and the permanent discomfort of her right wrist has cause her difficulty in performing her work as a hairstylist. She therefore sought compensation for her medical expenses, loss of income, and emotional damages. In the end, the jury ruled in favor of Nielson. She was awarded $775,361.