3 Crashes Kill 4 in Central Texas in 12-hour Period

Four people were killed in auto accidents within a 12-hour period ending Friday morning in three unrelated crashes in Central Texas.

The first traffic death occurred about 8:45 p.m. Thursday in Kyle on the Interstate 35 frontage road at the Kyle Parkway intersection.

Police said the driver, 52-year-old Daniel Adrian Gonzalez of Austin, was heading south in a white 2006 Mazda MPV minivan when he crashed into a concrete barrier.

A few hours later, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services reported another deadly wreck on I-35 at about 11:35 p.m. Thursday.

Medics and Austin Fire Department crews responded to a collision in Austin on I-35 just north of 51st Street, where EMS described seeing a “vehicle on fire, ‘fully engulfed.'”

According to police, an SUV caught fire in a wreck with an 18-wheeler truck.

Police believe the SUV had stopped in the center, northbound lane for an unknown reason when it was rear-ended by the big rig.  Further investigation is required.

A man and a woman inside the SUV, whom police did not identify Friday, were pronounced dead at the scene.  They were Austin’s first official traffic deaths in 2018.

Central Texas authorities responded to yet another fatal collision on a major highway during the pre-dawn commute Friday.

A 29-year-old driver was killed when a pickup collided with his car at U.S. 183 near FM 973 in far southeastern Travis County, authorities said.

According to preliminary DPS investigation, Matthew Scott Keaton of Cedar Cree was heading south on U.S. 183 in his Chevy Cruze.  Meanwhile, a Toyota Tundra driven by 75-year-old Jon Raymond Carrigan of Niederwald was heading north.

As Carrigan was turning left into a Chevron gas station parking lot, he struck Keaton’s car, DPS said.

Keaton, who DPS officials said was not wearing a seat belt, was taken to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, where he later died.