Crashes Kill 37 in Texas In Single Day
New York Times
July 4, 1994 - In one of the deadliest days ever on Texas highways, 31 people died in three crashes today, including 14 people killed when a tractor-trailer hit the back of a family's van.
Eleven people, many of them children, died in a collision involving another tractor-trailer near the West Texas town of Snyder, and six were killed in a crash near Ballinger, also in West Texas.
At least six other motorists died in other accidents around the state, bringing the toll by 6 P.M. today to 37, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
In Weatherford, a city of 15,000 people about 55 miles west of Dallas, the 18-wheeler hit the van from behind with such force that the truck's front bumper reached the van's front seat, said the city's Fire Chief, George Teague.
The impact hurled the wreckage 600 feet down Interstate 20, leaving a trail of clothing and twisted metal. Thirteen people were killed inside the van, and one body was found outside.
At least five people were injured, including the truck driver, the van driver, a 22-year-old woman and two children.
The family was on its way to Mississippi from Los Angeles for a family gathering. Pulling Into Traffic
The van's driver, Claudia Funches of Los Angeles, told the police that the van, a 1977 Dodge with California plates, had stalled, so she had pulled to the side of the highway. When she pulled back onto the roadway about 9:30 A.M., the van was hit from behind.
"The impact was so great that the van was knocked 600 feet from the point where it was struck and then exploded into flames," Mr. Cox said.
Ms. Funches, 47, was in critical condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. The truck driver was in good condition.
Near Snyder, 210 miles west of Fort Worth, 11 people were killed and six injured shortly after 4:15 A.M., when a tractor-trailer slammed broadside into a pickup truck with three adults in the cab and 12 children crowded into its open bed, Mr. Cox said.
Three children, ages 5 to 12, were flown 90 miles to the University Medical Center in Lubbock, where they were in critical condition, a nursing supervisor said.
All of the dead and most of the injured were related, Mr. Cox said. Truck Overturns
Six people died and three were injured in another overnight accident near Ballinger, 170 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
That accident occurred after a tractor-trailer loaded with 42,000 pounds of watermelon and cantaloupe overturned about 2:30 A.M. on Texas Route 158. A Lincoln Town Car with eight people in it, including a woman 7 1/2 months' pregnant with twins, slammed into the underside of the truck cab, said Tom Barkley of the Highway Patrol.
The twins were born alive shortly after the crash, but they died later. The mother survived, as did her husband, who was driving the car. The truck driver was admitted for observation.
The causes of all of the accidents were under investigation, Mr. Cox said. He did not know whether alcohol had been a factor in any of them.
The state's single deadliest traffic accident occurred on March 14, 1940, when a train hit a truck at a Hidalgo County railroad crossing, killing 29 people.
The deadliest day on Texas roads was Christmas Eve 1975, when 42 people were killed. On Dec. 19, 1981, 41 people died on the state's highways.
