Booze, fog are bad mix in deadly crashes
Thick fog and heavy drinking contributed to a string of deaths and injuries across the Houston area as residents rang in the new year, capping off a long holiday weekend in which authorities jailed more than 70 drivers believed to be impaired by drugs or alcohol.
A Magnolia man was charged with felony murder after a suspected drunkendriving crash in eastern Harris County that killed his 11year-old daughter, one of five people who died in four crashes on New Year’s Eve and in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
Other victims included a woman who was struck by a suspected drunken driver in north Houston, a man who was killed when he struck a tree on South Post Oak amid thick fog, and two passengers who died when their golf cart was struck on a roadway by a pick-up truck in Hockley.
Morning fog also apparently contributed to the driver of a small SUV slamming into the back of an 18wheeler driving southbound on the Eastex Freeway shortly before 5 a.m. The woman was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.
The heavy fog left some parts of the Houston area with zero visibility in the first hours of the new year, forcing some drivers to pull over and wait it out. Local meteorologists say firework smoke and a temperature change overnight likely exacerbated the problem.
“It is usually not quite as pronounced as this was,” said Kent Prochazka, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The fog was blamed for a 32-car pileup in Austin about 1 a.m. Tuesday that injured nine people.
Harris County authorities said they jailed more than 70 people on driving
while intoxicated charges, and Montgomery County prosecutors said they had charged a dozen motorists with driving impaired on New Year’s Eve.
“Many lives were likely saved thanks to these officers,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said, in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. “But too many were lost to drunk drivers.”
Jorge Ledezma Echavarria was driving a 2002 Chevy Tahoe in the 14200 block of Crosby Freeway around 8:30 p.m. when he ran a red light at the busy intersection with the East Sam Houston feeder, according to court documents.
His Tahoe crashed into a Ford Expedition traveling northbound on the feeder road, according to the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.
His daughter, 11-year-old Vanessa Ledezma, was in the back seat of the Tahoe. She was flown to a hospital and died just before 10 p.m.
Authorities said Ledezma, 33, showed signs of impairment afterward at the hospital. He was arrested and charged with felony murder and is due back in court on Wednesday.
He doesn’t appear to have any prior convictions in Harris County. The case is being investigated by the sheriff’s office vehicular crimes division.
Unlit roadway
The first fatality occurred at about 8 p.m. Monday, when a driver struck a golf cart in Hockley carrying three men.
According to authorities, the men, all in their 20s, decided to use the golf cart to visit a fireworks stand in northwestern Harris County. On their way back, they drove along the shoulder of Kermier on an unlit section of road. A man in a pickup truck traveling northbound didn’t see them and crashed into the trio near FM 2920.
One of the men in the golf cart jumped out, escaping with injuries, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The other two occupants were killed in the crash.
Authorities did not immediately identify the two victims and said charges were not expected, as there was no indication alcohol or impairment factored into the crash.
Tragedy struck again several hours later, when a suspected drunken driver hit a woman in north Houston.
The man struck a woman traveling southbound about 1:30 a.m. on the North Freeway feeder road at East Burress.
The woman was transported to the hospital, where she died, police said. Authorities did not immediately release the names of the victim or the driver of the other vehicle, and did not say what charges he might face.
At about 3 a.m., the sheriff reported a crash in Channelview in which a woman was severely injured after being struck by a car.
Deputies responded to the crash on Reigate Lane near Hitchin Lane, where the woman had apparently been walking along the road when she was hit. She was transported to Memorial Herman in critical condition.
Dangerous conditions
As the hours passed, thick fog blanketed some parts of the region, hampering visibility and posing additional dangers for revelers returning home and other motorists on the road.
Four hours into 2019, the weather service reported less than a half-mile of visibility near The Woodlands, and a half-mile in some areas of Fort Bend County. Some drivers shared photos and videos on social media that showed only faint headlights about 10 to 20 yards away.
Police said that fog may have played a role in a fatal crash at about 3 a.m. in southwest Houston, when a man driving on South Post Oak failed to notice the road dead-ending into McHard. The driver plowed through the intersection and flew across a ditch into a tree. He died before first responders showed up.
In Austin, multiple collisions were reported just after 1 a.m. Tuesday near Texas 130 and Harold Green Road as heavy fog moved in, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Eventually 50 people in 32 vehicles were involved, the newspaper reported.