DALLAS — The corporate liable for sustaining a Texas interstate the place 130 automobiles crashed in icy circumstances two years in the past, killing six and injuring dozens, failed to handle the deteriorating street circumstances, federal officers stated Thursday.
That portion of Interstate 35 West in Fort Value was not handled with salt the morning of the Feb. 11, 2021, crash, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board stated. The NTSB stated that the failure of North Tarrant Specific Mobility Companions Section three to handle the circumstances contributed to the crash, as did drivers’ speeds.
The NTSB stated that due to the forecasted freezing rain and sleet, North Tarrant Specific Mobility Companions Section three had pretreated the southbound lanes of I-35W two days earlier with a liquid brine answer. However, the NTSB stated, crews checking the street about 45 minutes earlier than the crash did not acknowledge that the elevated portion of the interstate the place the crash occurred wanted further de-icing remedy.
A spokesman for North Tarrant Specific Mobility Companions Section three didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Thursday. The Texas Division of Transportation additionally didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The pileup that concerned automobiles, vehicles and semitrailers started simply after 6 a.m. within the southbound toll lanes, which had a pace restrict of 75 mph (120 kilometers per hour). Concrete limitations separated the southbound toll lanes from the northbound toll lanes and from the southbound general-use lanes.
The NTSB stated that the crash started when a automobile struck the concrete barrier on the best facet of the toll lanes. Different automobiles then started sliding, spinning and putting the limitations. Then a big truck crashed into a few of these automobiles, and different automobiles that have been unable to cease additionally turned a part of the huge crash that blocked the entire southbound toll lanes.
NTSB stated that two of these killed have been struck after getting out of their automobiles.
Earlier than the crash, the world skilled 36 consecutive hours of below-freezing temperatures. On the morning of the crash, crews had spot-treated sections of the interstate with salt however not the portion the place the wreck occurred, the NTSB stated. The company stated that the crews visually checking the street 45 minutes earlier than the wreck did not detect any moisture and utilized no salt.
However, the NTSB stated, within the hours earlier than the crash, rain fell and a light-weight mist and fog have been reported, and indicators managed by North Tarrant Specific Mobility Companions Section alongside the southbound toll lanes displayed this message: “ICY CONDITIONS EXIST/PLEASE USE CAUTION.”
Native officers stated on the time that the street was so treacherous from ice that a number of first responders who responded to the crash ended up falling as they tried to assist.
The suggestions from the NTSB embody the set up of variable pace restrict indicators, including sensors to scale back response occasions to hazardous street circumstances and offering coaching on tips on how to higher reply to winter climate circumstances.
Three days after the crash, Texas’ energy grid buckled when one other winter storm dropped temperatures under freezing for days. Tens of millions have been left with out electrical energy for days, resulting in tons of of deaths.