Kendall County, TX — August 16, 2024, Timothy Martinez was injured as the result of a car accident at around 10:20 p.m. along Old No. 9 Highway.

According to officials, the accident happened in the area of Old No. 9 Highway and Grape Creek Road.

Investigators said that 35-year-old Timothy Paul Martinez was in a southbound Ford F-150 approaching Grape Creek. As the road curved, the vehicle reportedly lost control and veered off-road. The vehicle then overturned, seriously injuring Timothy Martinez. No one else appeared to be involved.

Right now, additional details about the crash remain unavailable.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

One point of concern with any single-vehicle wreck is how authorities are handling the investigations. Frankly, they're not often seen as a high priority. This can result in officers being less thorough with the actual evidence and focusing solely on whether or not the victim is to blame. Inevitably, this leads to mistakes.

For example, I handled an accident not long ago where the family was concerned authorities made a mistake because the reports blamed the victim for not wearing their seatbelt. When we actually dug into things, though, it turned out they inferred this due to the victim being thrown from their seat. Following more thorough investigations from independent accident reconstructionists, though, the evidence revealed the victim's seatbelt was defective, meaning their injuries were actually the result of a defect they had no idea about rather than the crash itself. Not only that, but authorities essentially blamed someone for factors beyond their control.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that happened here. That's up to the evidence to say. My point is that people tend to take for granted that authorities are going to get all of the facts. In my career, I learned a long time ago that's never a guarantee, and in fact there often has to be independent investigations to make sure nothing important slipped through the cracks.