17-0918
Five freight trucks and a car…
HIGHWAY CLOSED FOR HOURS AFTER MULTI-VEHICLE PILE-UP
By Marc Robertson
La Salle County sheriff’s deputies were among the first on the scene of a pre-dawn traffic pile-up south of Cotulla on Monday, September 18, involving five freight trucks, a car, and serious injuries to a Laredo-bound driver.
The southbound lanes of IH-35 between Cotulla and Artesia Wells were closed for several hours beginning at around 5 a.m. Monday and traffic was diverted to the east-side access roadduring an investigation by the Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol and subsequent crash-site cleanup.
Preliminary reports on the incident indicate that a southbound freight truck may have sideswiped a stationary freighter that was undergoing some emergency roadside repairs, then veered across both southbound lanes and tipped onto its right side, blocking traffic. The driver was later transported to hospital by ambulance.
A southbound sedan then reportedly collided with the exposed underside of the overturned freight trailer, according to officers examining the scene. The car’s driver was subsequently airlifted from the interstate and was listed as having suffered life-threatening injuries. Reports from the scene indicated that the driver had not been able to see the obstruction in the road and that she may not have had time to apply her brakes before impact.
A southbound freight truck then also collided with the overturned freighter, breaking the box trailer in half and separating its rear axles from the subframe. A portion of the trailer’s grain and horse feed cargo was spilled.
The drivers of two further freight trucks traveling side by side in the southbound lanes then attempted steering clear of the wreckage – which now included four vehicles – but may have caused their freighters to sideswipe each other as they approached the accident scene, according to officers. Both trucks sustained damage and came to a halt on the highwayside shoulder.
Other southbound vehicles approaching the crash site at highway speeds stopped on the roadside shoulder and avoided further collisions. Some vehicles came to rest on the grassy roadside median.
Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched from cities across the region to assist in traffic control and in the crash investigation. The Texas Department of Transportation issued a series of cautions to southbound motorists Monday, urging travelers to slow down at or near the accident site, to watch for emergency vehicles and diversions to the highway access roads.
Emergency responders included the La Salle Fire Rescue & EMS, whose members helped treat motorists involved in the crash.