Interstate 35 north of Hillsboro reopened late Thursday afternoon after an accident involving an 18-wheeler and two passenger cars that left one man dead.
The highway was reopened just before 4 p.m. Thursday.
The man who died was in his 30s, but carried no ID and authorities have been unable to identify him.
At around 8:40 a.m. Thursday he drove a recently-purchased Chevrolet Lumina onto the southbound interstate from an exit ramp to U.S. Highway 77 and headed north, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper D.L. Wilson said.
Some southbound motorists managed to get out of his path, but the driver of an 18-wheeler was unable to avoid the oncoming Lumina and the car and the rig collided head-on just south of the split between I 35-W and I 35-E, Wilson said.
The man died at the scene.
The third vehicle a Honda Accord, collided with the rear of the 18-wheeler after the initial crash, but none of the three people in the car was injured.
The driver of the 18-wheeler also escaped injury.
Authorities checked the title of the Lumina and discovered that the vehicle was still registered to its previous owner.
Southbound traffic was diverted off the interstate for hours while troopers investigated the deadly crash.
Northbound traffic wasn’t affected.