Crash Photo, WFAA
Sunday morning around 4 am on Fort Worth Highway 121, Marcus Deon Burkley drove his Lincoln east on the westbound lanes of the highway. Police suspect he had been drinking, and his erratic driving sent him barreling towards oncoming vehicles. Burkley’s Lincoln would hit three cars before finally stopping. The first collision occurred when the Lincoln crashed into a Dodge pickup. Both tried to avoid the collision, but it was too late and the pickup was thrown upside down. The Lincoln continued on its path of destruction and ran into a Chevy Malibu and a Mazda before finally regaining control. The three people in the pickup were injured as well as the Chevy driver. Burkley, age 44, has already been placed under arrest for intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury.
Police, firefighters and other emergency workers were soon at the scene of the accident. Captain Michael Baldwin reported to Fox 4 that as the emergency crews were clearing the scene, they had to quickly avoid another wrong-way driver heading towards them. The second wrong-way driver was apprehended by police and will face charges.
Two wrong-way drivers in a row? Please be careful while driving in the 3200 block of Highway 121 near Riverside Drive as it seems to be a kind of hot spot for wrong-way drivers on the weekends. Hopefully, the Fort Worth officials can combat the problem of wrong-way wrecks. The Dallas North Tollway has gone through extensive and expensive efforts to prevent wrong-way drunk driving accidents. While the changes haven’t been full proof, it’s believed to have made a positive difference.
