TxDOT Talks ‘Wrong-Way’ Prevention In Wake Of Deadly Clint Crash

A spokesman for the city of Socorro tells ABC-7 that police investigators may “never know” exactly how a driver went about entering Interstate 10 in the wrong direction.

Police said Terrence Higgins slammed his white SUV head-on into a black Dodge Charger around 9:30 Tuesday night.

Higgins and two women inside the Charger, 39-year-old Ruby Lopez and her 20-year-old daughter Amy Lopez, were killed.

Amy Lopez’s 3-year-old daughter was left in serious condition, police said. Another woman in the car, 22-year-old Monica Pinon, was in stable condition, according to a University Medical Center spokeswoman.

Thursday, Socorro spokesman Dave Garcia told ABC-7 because Higgins, a Fort Bliss soldier, died in the wreck, the exact spot in which he accessed the highway could remain a mystery.

Authorities haven’t said whether they think alcohol played a part in the crash.

Blanca Del Valle, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the agency has ‘wrong way’ signs in place at all freeway exits and red reflectors on the roads, visible only to those driving against traffic.

Del Valle said after any deadly crash, TxDOT workers go out to the scene and make sure all the safeguards were in place.

“We go back to see if something could have been wrong,” she said. “If a sign could have been missing.”

Del Valle said all signage was accounted for near the site of Tuesday’s wreck.

Some larger cities in Texas have started utilizing sensors on their freeways to alert authorities to wrong-way drivers.

Del Valle said El Paso does not see enough wrong-way crashes to merit the expense of that kind of equipment.