Some of the Lone Star State’s cities had their first fatal car accidents within a few days of the beginning of 2014—in one city, it was within one hour.
The first fatal accident in Houston happened at 1:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Diego Islas, 21, was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck downtown, going eastbound on Pierce. Islas ran the red light at the intersection of Pierce and Milam and hit a white Mercedes C230. The driver of the Mercedes and a passenger in the pickup truck had minor injuries and were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. The rear passenger in the Mercedes died at the scene; Islas was found to be intoxicated and he was charged with intoxication manslaughter.
In Austin, the first fatal accident happened around 2:00 a.m. on January 3. There were no witnesses to this crash, but it appeared that a silver Chevy Malibu crashed into a Toyota Camry at the intersection of Ben White and I-35. The two people inside the Camry were pronounced dead at the scene and the two inside the Malibu were taken to UMC Brackenridge to be treated for injuries. The Malibu had been in a minor collision with a black van prior to the fatal collision and Officer Traver Stefan says it’s possible the Malibu was fleeing from the scene of that accident when it caused the more serious accident.
We hope these accidents are not indicative of what is to come for the rest of 2014. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends of the car accident victims involved in these wrecks.