HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Authorities are investigating a double fatal vehicle crash in the Baytown area.
The incident happened at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 5400 block of Sjolander Road, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirms.
Deputies tell KHOU 11 two men in a gold Dodge Stratus were heading northbound when the driver veered into oncoming traffic.
Both men were wearing neon yellow safety vests. Deputies say based on personal identification, it appears the men were father and son. Both had photo ID cards inside the card for a chemical plant located on Sjolander Road just north of I-10. Deputies say based on their clothing and their direction of travel, it seemed like the men were on their way to work.
The car slammed head on into a green Ford F-350 dually truck. The father and son died at the scene.
Two kids in the pickup, a 14-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy, were airlifted to the Medical Center. They were listed in critical condition but are expected to survive. Their father was driving the truck and was taken to the Medical Center by ambulance.
Deputies say they do not know why the car crossed the middle line, but the driver of the Ford truck said it looked like the sedan's driver was dozing off behind the wheel just before impact.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies are working to recreate the crash so they can figure out what went wrong. Deputies used a patrol SUV and a piece of technology to register things like traction and speed and skid marks.
The car is registered out of Brownsville, Texas which is the Rio Grande Valley. Deputies say they’re going to check with Brownsville police to help track down the family of the father and son.
The roadway did not fully reopen until about 10 a.m.
A nearby resident, Gary Moreno said he and his wife, who is a trauma nurse, heard the crash and ran outside to render aide until authorities arrived.
Texas is the deadliest state, with 3,773 traffic deaths recorded in 2016, a 5.45% increase over 2015. At 1.44 people killed per 100 million miles traveled, Texas has the worst traffic record with drunks and speedsters and drug-addicts and sleepy people roaming the roads. The injured people are into the 100,000+ range. So, if you happen by any bad luck to visit Texas, say a prayer beforehand (not that it will help).
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Wednesday, July 19, 2017 12:37PM
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A father and son are dead after two vehicles were involved in a deadly head-on crash Wednesday morning in east Harris County.
The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on Sjolander Road just outside Baytown.
According to Harris Co. deputies, a father and his two children were traveling southbound in a pick-up truck when they were hit head-on by a sedan that crossed the center lane.
The children in the truck were flown to a hospital from the scene. Their father was transported by ground ambulance.
The father and son in the sedan died on scene.
Investigators say they were from Brownsville, on their way to work at a local refinery when they veered off into the opposing lane.
"The driver of the truck who was headed southbound said it looked like the driver headed northbound might have been going to sleep, but it all happened so fast that I don't know if you can tell," said Sgt. Dennis Castanie.
It is also possible that the lights of the pickup truck blinded the
Dodge Stratus driver in this narrow road. We will see what the investigation shows.