DALLAS — The company responsible for maintaining the Texas interstate where 130 vehicles crashed in icy conditions Federal officials said Thursday that two years ago, killing six people and injuring dozens, had failed to address the deteriorating state of the roads.
That section of Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth was not treated with salt on the morning of February 11, 2021, the crash, National Traffic Safety Board speak. The NTSB said that the defeat of North Tarrant Show Segment 3 mobility partner to address conditions that contribute to collisions, as well as driver speed.
The NTSB said that due to hail and hail forecasts, North Tarrant Express Mobility Partner Segment 3 pretreated the southbound lanes of I-35W two days earlier with a liquid saline solution. . However, the NTSB said, crews that inspected the road about 45 minutes before the crash did not realize that the elevated section of the interstate where the crash occurred needed additional anti-icing treatment. fig.
A spokesperson for North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The Texas Department of Transportation also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bulk vehicle related, truck and semi-trailers begin running shortly after 6 a.m. on southbound toll lanes, which have a speed limit of 75 mph (120 km per hour). Concrete barriers separate southbound toll lanes from northbound toll lanes and southbound shared use lanes.
The NTSB said the accident began when a vehicle crashed into a concrete barrier on the right side of the toll lane. Other vehicles then began to slide, spin and crash into the barriers. Then a large truck hit some of those vehicles, and others that were unable to stop also became part of the massive collision that blocked all southbound toll lanes.
NTSB says two of those killed were attacked after getting out of their car.
Before the crash, the area had experienced 36 consecutive hours of sub-freezing temperatures. The NTSB said that on the morning of the accident, crews treated salt at the interstate sections but did not treat the section where the wreck occurred. The agency said teams visually inspected the road 45 minutes before the wreck found no moisture and no salt was sprinkled.
However, the NTSB said that in the hours before the crash, rain had fallen and light fog and fog were reported, and signs were managed by North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners. along the southbound toll lanes display this message: “FREE CONDITIONS EXIST/PLEASE USE WITH CAUTION.”
Local officials said at the time that the road was so dangerous with ice that some of the first responders responding to the collision fell as they tried to help.
Recommendations from the NTSB include installing variable speed limit signs, adding sensors to reduce reaction times to hazardous road conditions and providing training on how to better respond with winter weather conditions.
Three days after the crash, Texas’ the grid is warped when another winter storm drops temperatures below freezing for days. Millions of people were without electricity for days, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
