VON ORMY, TX (01/26/2016) — Andrea Gamez was critically injured on Tuesday night after a suspected drunk driver struck her vehicle head-on.
Police have identified 17-year-old Andrea Gamez as the victim of a head-on collision that occurred along Interstate 35 near Kinney Road in Von Ormy, Texas.
Authorities reported that at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, Gamez was traveling northbound on I-35 in a Nissan Maxima when the 57-year-old female driver of a Hyundai Sonata, traveling the wrong way, struck her vehicle head-on.
The unidentified driver of the Sonata died at the scene.
Gamez—who is junior at Somerste High School—was transported to University Hospital via medical helicopter (CareFlite) in critical condition.
According to Somerset ISD spokesperson Maury Vasquez, Gamez has undergone one surgery and has at least two more to go.
“[Gamez] has a long road ahead of recovery, a long list of injuries, but at least the long-term prognosis is positive right now,” Maury said.
Police believe the driver of the Sonata was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Commentary
Head-on collisions are one the deadliest types of car crashes on the road. In fact, 68% of head-on accidents result in fatal injuries. Although avoiding this type of collision is not always an option, we would like to offer a drivers the four R’s of head-on crashes: read the road, drive to the right, reduce speed, and ride off the road.
First, make sure you’re constantly scanning the road for sudden changes, and that you’re keeping to right to ensure other drivers see you more clearly. You also want to reduce your speed a bit if you see a vehicle approaching you the wrong way, but don’t slam on the brakes. Lastly, carefully maneuver your vehicle off the road.
While these tips may help you avoid a potential head-on crash, we believe more needs to be done to prevent drivers from being able to enter the a highway via an offramp in the first place. The technology exists, but Texas has been slow to adopt it.
