Two Tractor-Trailer Head-On Collision closes U.S. Highway 277 South
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
An early morning head-on collision at approximately 6 A.M. on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, between two tractor trailers traveling on U.S. Highway 277 South between Eagle Pass, Texas and Carrizo Springs, Texas, caused U.S. Highway 277 South to be closed to allow emergency and first responders treat the parties involved in the accident, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The tractor-trailer head-on collision occurred in Dimmit County close to the U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint on U.S. Highway 277 South.
U.S. Highway 277 South was closed by the Texas Department of Transportation for several hours. Travelers between Eagle Pass and Carrizo Springs were diverted to alternative routes during the morning of June 17th.
As of press time, it is unknown how many persons are injured and the extent of their injuries.
During the past four years since the increased traffic caused by the oil and gas exploration boom in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, accidents on U.S. Highway 277 South between Eagle Pass and Carrizo Springs have significantly increased with many involving fatalities. Travel on U.S. Highway 277 South has increased as a result of the Eagle Ford Shale trucks, tractors, and workers using this highway to travel between Eagle Pass and Carrizo Springs.
The June 17th accident is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Although statistical numbers from 2013 show that fewer people have died in accidents in and around the Eagle Ford Shale Region in the past 12 months but the total number of accidents have significantly increased.
According to the statistics, a 23 county area encompassing Laredo to Huntsville saw 236 highway fatalities in 2013 down 12 fatalities from 2012 which saw 248. Although fatalities are down there were 3,430 crashes which signals a 26% jump from 2012 in the same 23 county area where the data was collected.
In 2013, the Texas Department of Public Safety added accidents in the Eagle Ford shale region to a list of dangerous concerns in the State of Texas, which includes drug cartels , human trafficking, and natural disasters.
Accidents in this region are expected to increase as the oil and gas activities continue to grow and 18 wheeler traffic activities rise as well.
The most dangerous areas were in some of the counties considered to be in the “core” of the Eagle Ford play, drawing the most drilling activity and the biggest profits for oil companies. The report said that between 2009 and 2011 in Karnes, La Salle and Dimmit counties, accidents involving a commercial vehicle increased 470 percent, while total accidents increased 98 percent.
Based on drilling permits, the DPS says that DeWitt, McMullen, Webb and Zavala counties also had higher risks of accidents.
TxDOT is once again pushing its “Be Safe. Drive Smart” campaign in the Eagle Ford and in the Permian Basin in West Texas — both regions where an oil boom has put more cars and heavy trucks on a rural network of badly deteriorating roads.
Another issue stemming from the rise of accidents in the Eagle Ford Shale and related injuries and fatalities is the strain that many South Texas rural hospitals are seeing and having to deal with based on the spike of more traumatic injuries coming into the emergency rooms and an increase in automobile accidents.
This is an important wake -up call as there are no Level I trauma centers south of San Antonio, Texas. Rural hospitals in the Eagle Ford Shale are Level IV trauma centers, meaning they provide more basic emergency medicine services. Only Bexar County’s University Hospital is a Level I trauma center.
And a few counties in Eagle Ford Shale region have no hospitals at all, such as Live Oak, McMullen and Zavala counties.
For example, in Dimmit County the regional hospital there has seen emergency visits almost triple in the past three years on a monthly basis. The Dimmit Regional Hospital in Carrizo Springs is a Level IV trauma center, too.
The Eagle Ford Shale region is underserved by hospitals and health care providers necessary to handle the medical and health care needs of its workers and citizens.
