The deadly wreck that occurred on SH 111 west of Yoakum on Tuesday confirmed new information that put Texas at the top of the states with the greatest death tolls for the week of Thanksgiving.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a 2016 Hyundai Elantra driven by 19-year-old Joel Herrera Torres of El Campo crossed the center line of the highway about 15 miles east of Yoakum and collided head-on with a 2021 Dodge Ram driven by 51-year-old Roberto Garcia Mata Jr. of Smiley.
Sgt. Ruben San Miguel, a spokesperson for the department, said Wednesday that Mata was taken by ambulance to DeTar Hospital Navarro with non-life-threatening injuries.
At 6:16 a.m., he said, Justice of the Peace Hallie Hall pronounced Herrera and his passenger, Hector Javier Rios Jr., 18, of El Campo, dead at the scene.
The Elantra rolled upright into a grassy ditch while Mata’s truck flipped and landed on its roof, facing east in the westbound lane, according to San Miguel’s account.
San Miguel remarked, “This was certainly one of the worst accidents I’ve witnessed.”
This automobile was smashed to pieces by a Dodge pickup.
According to a study published on November 14 by the auto insurance discount app Jerry, the state of Texas has the highest rate of traffic deaths during the week of Thanksgiving.
The research examined data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between 2006 and 2020, with Thanksgiving week being the week beginning on the Wednesday before the holiday and ending on the Monday after it.
With 749 reported deaths, Texas was ten more than California during the week of Thanksgiving due to traffic accidents. The Sunshine State ranked third highest, with 621 fatalities.
The three most populous states in the United States are those listed above. New York, the fourth-most populous state, reported 251 deaths, below the totals for North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
Regarding Thanksgiving traffic fatalities, Texas cities like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio consistently rank high. In only Los Angeles was this number higher.
According to the data, Friday is the second most dangerous day, followed by Thanksgiving.
According to the report, young adults (those between the ages of 16 and 25) accounted for over a quarter of all fatalities on Thanksgiving over the past 15 years.
Sixty-nine percent of the fatalities were men.
Moreover, half of the fatal accidents on Thanksgiving occur in rural regions, and “56% involve a vehicle leaving the route.”
According to the survey, Thanksgiving is the most dangerous holiday for drivers in the United States, with 43% more people killed in crashes on that day than on Christmas and 6% more than on Labor Day weekend, which ranked second.
Source: Victoria Advocate
