F.M. 1788 Wreck Calls For Investigation

ANDREWS -- There is speculation as to why F.M. 1788 is so dangerous. It could be because it's one of the only Farm to Market roads with a 75 mile per hour speed limit, or because its a two lane highway. Now TXDOT will conduct an investigation on that road and the crash that occurred recently killing two adults and three children.

Any accident can shake up a small town like Andrews.

"Its just devastating its hard to say everyone pulls together and stick together, " said Jerry Criner of Andrews.

An accident that involves children is especially devastating. Eight year-old Tiffany Klein, three year-old Jeremyah Savage, and one year-old Sebastian Savage were in the car when their grandmother Debbie Beck crashed into an oncoming dump truck. No one survived

"I can't imagine how they feel," said Criner. "I just feel so bad for them."

Last weekend's deadly crash is the fourth of its kind on F.M. 1788 in the past three years. The road is getting a reputation.

"I try to be careful all the time but especially on that road I try to watch my speed, " said Criner.

After an accident like the one that happened last weekend, TXDOT will inspect the road and look for any safety concerns and reasons why the road is dangerous. But that won't happen for a couple of months.

"What we do is after all reports are filed we see if there are any safety concerns with the road," said Gene Powell of TXDOT. "We review circumstances of the crash but that may be months after the crash."

Until then, the road will remain open. Gene Powell told me that F.M. 1788 meets all of TXDOT's requirements and actually exceeds some of them like the 8 foot shoulder.