LOVING COUNTY — There’s no doubt about it that DPS Troopers are spending most of their time working car crashes in West Texas.
In fact, between Loving County, Ward County and Reeves County troopers are seeing an average of 50 crashes a month.
In the last 24 hours our area has seen nine crashes including three fatalities.
Loving County had three crashes Thursday morning — all within an hour of each other.
Unfortunately one was fatal.
“There’s a problem here and we need to start focusing on what this problem is,” said DPS Trooper Justin Baker. “[We need to] start changing our habits, our driving habits, and we want to see this number drastically reduced.”
Some of those habits Baker would like to see changed are distracted driving and obeying the speed limit and road signs.
According to DPS, two pickup trucks were involved in the fatal accident in Loving County.
A preliminary investigation shows the driver of one of the pickup trucks ran a stop sign and was T-boned at the intersection of County Road 300 and FM 652.
“These roads are treacherous and they get worse and worse every day,” said Lori Moon who works down the street from where the accident happened. “As the boom picks up, there’s going to be more and more traffic.”
Moon is just one of several residents who’ve witnessed too many crashes to count in their county, including Thursday morning’s fatal.
“Well sadly that gentleman this morning won’t go home to his loved ones, he went home to the lord instead,” said Moon. “It’s sad, but so many times it can be avoided if people would just slow down and pay attention.”
It might sound like a broken record, but Trooper Baker has a message for all drivers:
“Drive defensively, reduce your speed, pay attention to warning signs, especially in construction zones and be courteous to each other. Go out there and share the road and don’t take unnecessary risks.”