Jonathan Mendelsohn
On April 18 around 8:30 PM, 21-year-old father Clayton Vaughn was killed while he was a passenger inside a Kia SUV on a Texas freeway. The tragic freak accident occurred when the vehicle’s windshield was smashed in by a lone tire that apparently flew off of an 18-wheeler truck. It is believed that the tire was a spare and that the driver of the 18-wheeler, who may have been unaware that the incident occurred, left the scene and has not yet been located.
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After the Kia SUV was struck by the tire, the vehicle was sent flying across 6 lanes, eventually crashing into a side wall along the freeway. The 18-wheeler was reported to be traveling eastbound. While Vaughn was killed during the incident, the driver was only left with minor injuries.
Fatal Freeway Crash Caused by Lone Tire
Via a post on the official Facebook page, Ted Heap, Harris County Constable Precinct 5, authorities revealed what had happened. The post states, “Deputies with Constable Ted Heap’s Office are working the scene of a fatality accident on the Katy Tollway this evening. All lanes of the Katy Freeway westbound are closed at Bunker Hill. At approximately 8:30, it appears an 18-wheeler lost a tire while traveling eastbound on the Katy Freeway. The tire struck a car traveling westbound on the Katy Tollway, killing a passenger in the front seat.”
Also according to the Facebook post, “The driver of the car, after being struck by the tire, crossed all 6 lanes of the freeway and crashed into the outside barrier wall, suffering non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the accident. The driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment.”
Hopefully, there is a way to prevent similar freeway accidents in the future. In 2021, there were a total of 4,489 fatal traffic accidents that occurred in Texas, which is way up from previous years and one of the highest numbers seen in the state since 1981.
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