One Georgia family is dealing with an unimaginable loss this week after losing four members in a horrific multi-vehicle accident in Texas that also included an eighteen-wheeler. The Standberry family was driving in the Beaumont area, to the south and east of Houston, on September 18th when their car became involved in the multi-car wreck. Investigators from the Beaumont police department report that a thorough investigation into the incident is underway to determine the facts of the accident and what role each vehicle involved might have played.
Early reporting after the accident revealed that a total of seven passenger vehicles, including at least one pickup truck, and a tractor-trailer were involved in the incident that closed down all of the westbound lanes on Interstate 10 after the early morning wreck. Photos from the roadway show a fiery scene in which at least one car and one truck caught fire. That car contained seven members of the Standberry, who resided in Marietta, Georgia just outside the metro Atlanta area.
Due to the crash and resulting fire, believed to be set off when the eighteen-wheeler struck the first car and pickup truck, four members of the Standberry family died at the scene or were later pronounced dead at local hospitals. The deceased included mother Chelsea Standberry, age 36, and children Anthony, Jr., 10, Anaiyah, 8, and Chase, age 6. The children’s father, Anthony, Sr., his daughter Jada and his mother Renee Ford were able to successfully exit the vehicle. Other injuries were reported among the other vehicles involved in the accident and were all treated at area medical centers.
The incidence of accidents involving tractor-trailer trucks is on the rise throughout the country after hitting their lowest point a decade ago. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that in 2016, the most recent year for which data has been compiled, some 4,400 buses and large trucks were involved in accidents that lead to fatalities. In the case of the Standberry family’s accident, another tractor-trailer-involved accident had occurred just miles ahead on the same highway several hours earlier.
The rise in fatalities has brought an equivalent rise in litigation as eighteen-wheeler accident attorneys work on behalf of their clients to obtain justice after families experience death and disability due to grievous incidents. As the Beaumont police department wraps up its investigation into the losses suffered by the Standberry family, more details may emerge to paint a clearer picture of why the accident occurred and perhaps how to avoid such incidents in the future.
