Trucker who survived wreck: It was horrific, tragedy could have been avoided

A woman who witnessed the collision that killed two truck drivers on I-10 East between Americas and Eastlake told ABC-7 the wreck could have been avoided.

Police said Patrick Charles Van Fossen, of McKinney, Texas and Keserie Paredes, of Van Alstyne, Texas were killed when they struck a construction conveyer arm obstructing traffic from the highway’s median.

Police said Paredes was riding in the tractor trailer’s cabin when Van Fossen struck the construction machinery. They were killed instantly, witnesses told ABC-7.

The wreck was part of a chain reaction involving five vehicles. It happened at about 2:30 am December 22, 2017.

A witness who saw the construction machinery obstructing traffic called 911 to report the traffic hazard. A second witness, Jean Beck, called 911 after the machinery struck her tractor trailer. Beck told ABC-7 she doesn’t understand why authorities did not react in time to prevent the tragic wreck.

“It was just really horrific. The impact was just so bad you could just see pieces of the truck flying and we were all running for our lives because nobody was controlling the truck,” Beck told ABC-7.

Beck was with her husband driving along I-10 when they swerved to avoid the conveyer arm hanging off the freeway’s median. Beck said two other semis and another vehicle clipped the construction vehicle, causing minor damage.

The drivers and passengers involved pulled over onto the shoulder and immediately called 911, Beck said.

Beck said the 911 operator told her someone was en route and asked where they were located. “‘Don’t hang up, stay on the phone,’ the operators said. It’s like, I can’t just sit here on the phone with you, I’ve got to get out of the way,” Beck said as she recalled the horrific moments.

Beck told ABC-7 they waited on the shoulder for at least 30 minutes for help to arrive, worried another vehicle would get hit. That’s when she saw the tractor trailer Van Fossen was driving heading in their direction. She witnessed the semi-truck collide with the conveyer arm, killing the couple instantly.

Beck said Van Fossen’s semi truck then went barreling into their vehicles on the shoulder.

“I called back and said ‘okay, you now you do really need to get somebody here because there’s been an accident and people are very hurt’ and then I said, ‘oh no, they’re dead. She’s dead,’ because she was on the road, she had been hit and people had no way on knowing. They couldn’t stop,” Beck said.

Beck told ABC-7 says she’s distraught over what happened and doesn’t understand why it all happened this way. “I do, with all my heart, believe that had they gotten somebody out there sooner, this would not have been this bad. There still might have been some wrecks, but people would’ve seen the police lights and they would’ve known to slow down. But it took somebody dying to get someone out there.”

Police have not told ABC-7 how long it took officers to arrive at the scene. TxDOT has not commented on the investigation but tells ABC-7 JAR Construction was contracted at the site. JAR told ABC-7 it is conducting its own investigation and cooperating fully with all governmental agencies involved in the investigation.