The unfortunate crash could have been avoided if the SpaceX carrier vehicle had necessary warning signs, precautionary measures, or least to say “reflectors.” Now the high-tech space venture company faces a lawsuit due to the accident.
A fatal accident took place last year where a family lost one member and had four brutally injured when they crashed into the SpaceX 18-wheeler vehicle that stood idle on the road and basically was on its way to deliver parts to the Boca Chica facility.
The crash took place early morning with minimum visibility. The family left the camping site 4 in the morning not knowing the fate and luck was not in their favor. They had to evacuate the camping site following a storm and crashed into the carrier vehicle while on the narrow road to home.
The Texas family sued SpaceX along with its partner company Dogleg Park LLC for a sum of $20 million saying that the crash could have been avoided if there were any preventive measures in place. Unfortunately, to say, the team handling the carrier vehicle didn’t bother to flash warning signs.
The family said they left the camping site following a tide, while they were on the two-lane highway, they came into deadly contact with the SpaceX truck. The carrier vehicle reportedly was taking a narrow turn to reach the SpaceX facility.
The filed lawsuit against SpaceX writes about the impacts of the facility’s infrastructure installation on the quiet Boca Chica village. One of the points that the lawsuit highlights are the absence of multi-lane highways that one would expect for such massive parts transportation for a large space operation.
“Without any reflective signage, lighting of any kind, warning markers, reflective markers, stop lights, stop signs, cones, security personnel, or safety systems, the Venegas family could not see the truck at all,” the legal complaint reads.
However, SpaceX marked the lawsuit as a false allegation, their argument is that it was the family’s car that came crashing in the idle 18-wheeler vehicle. The case is complex, as the SpaceX vehicles often cause blockages on the narrow road, and to say that they should flash warning signals on such operations won’t be wrong.
“This was no accident,” the family’s lawyer, Anthony Buzbee, said in the legal filing. “Mr. Venegas’s senseless death could have been avoided had [SpaceX] taken specific steps to ensure that deliveries occurred safely.”