***UPDATE***
The summer has done nothing to temper Texan’s reckless driving habits. There were several severe multi-vehicle accidents across the metroplex including in Dallas, Denton and Kaufman County.
Negligent DART Driver Closes Tollway
DART Tollway Crash, WFAA Photo
Last Friday a multi-vehicle crash started by a DART bus shut down the Dallas North Tollway downtown. All southbound lanes were closed after a paratransit DART bus failed to slow down with traffic and struck a black Nissan Sentra. The Sentra was crushed in between the DART bus and a minivan. Two more vehicles became involved in the chain-reaction accident that began with the DART bus leading to a total of 5 vehicles damaged and numerous minor injuries. Two people from two separate cars were taken to Parkland with non-life-threatening injuries. The accident which occurred around 2:30 pm, created havoc for drivers coming home from work at 5pm because had the toll road could not be reopened until 6 pm.
Since the accident, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has placed the paratransit driver on paid administrative leave pending a full investigation. It was lucky that the paratransit bus had no passengers inside.
Saturday Night Wrong-Way Pile up in Denton
Two were killed on Saturday June 30 in Denton around 9 pm when a wrong-way accident proved fatal. Two drivers, Rhonda Barney in a Nissan Altima and Ryan Abraham Ponder in a Toyota Tacoma pick-up were killed in the accident. The accident involved two other vehicles, a PT Cruiser and a Lexus. The driver of the Lexus and those inside the PT Crusier were also injured in the deadly wreck. Initially, investigators thought it was Barney’s Altima that caused the accident by going the wrong-way. However, later police investigations reported on by the Denton Record-Chronicle cited Tacoma driver 21-year-old Ponder at fault for the accident.
Two SUVS and Two Pickups Destroyed in Kaufman
Chevrolet Pickup, WFAA Photo
It began with what was supposed to be a simple pass on two-lane Highway 243 in Kaufman County last night a quarter after 8 pm. A Cadillac Escalade was trying to pass a Chevrolet pickup. The Escalade unwittingly hit a Ford pickup while attempting to pass. The head-on collision was bad enough, but things got even worse when the Chevrolet pickup was rear-ended by a Chevy Tahoe when it the pickup stopped to render aid to the Escalade and the Ford pickup. Rear-ended is almost an understatement here – the Chevy Tahoe struck the back of the Chevrolet pickup with so much force that the pickup was pushed completely upside down. The impact of the accident killed the passenger in the Chevy Tahoe. The driver abandoned his dead passenger and somehow left the scene on foot.
SUVs From Kaufman Crash, FOX 4 Photo
Occupants of the other three cars faced minor to serious injuries. Two people in the Escalade that triggered the initial accident were flown via helicopter to area hospitals. The Ford pick that was hit by the Escalade saw three of its occupants hospitalized with two being taken by helicopter. The upside down Chevrolet pickup had five occupants sent to the hospital, but only one was airlifted.
Further details of the crash and the injuries have not yet been released since the police is still investigating. The news still reports the driver of the Chevy Tahoe as missing. WFAA reporter showed video of the crash site this morning. Panning across the yards of debris on the side of the road and showing images of the four nearly unrecognizable vehicles.
