That 100 vehicle pileup in Fort Worth could have been prevented, or at least minimized, according to a state representative.
“There’s more and more evidence showing that the traffic was not able to stop because a deicing procedure does not appear that it was done correctly,” said Rep. Ramon Romero, (Dem. Fort Worth). “Those folks that got into that first accidenst, every car had no ability to slow down and they had no ability to escape by moving off to the shoulder or getting off of that highway.”
Romero says the stretch of I-35 W has no shoulder that could allow anyone who saw the accident ahead to pull off. He says once they were on the ice, they were at the mercy of inertia.
Firefighters had to bring their own sand just to get to the accident scene, says Romero.
“They are telling me that there is no evidence that the vehicles that were coming down that roadway had any opportunity to stop. And our first responders, are having to bring their own sand to access those areas, what does that tell us?”
Romero says he’s been given a changing story by the North Tarrant Express project that includes a claim that the highway was treated this morning. However, they have not provided any documentation to back up the claim, Romero says.
The North Tarrant Express project did not respond to requests to answer questions. Instead the agency issued a statement:
We join the greater community in our thoughts for the accident victims, their families, and those recovering. NTE & NTE35W maintenance crews started pre-treating the corridors on Tuesday morning in anticipation of inclement weather, and have been treating continuously as they monitor the roadway. We will continue treating the highways through the weekend and into next week, as long as the storm is active. Our crews treat the entire corridor, managed lanes, general purpose lanes, frontage roads and ramps, and operate under the same procedure as the Texas Department of Transportation. Additionally, our message boards throughout the corridors have been alerting drivers of the adverse weather conditions and encouraging them to drive with caution. Currently, the crews are assisting emergency responders to manage the accident scene and clean up in order to reopen the corridor, safely.
The agency did not provide any verification to back up the claims.