Witness Video – Pickup Truck Centerline Crossover Collision with Medium-Size Bus on US Highway 83

On March 29, 2017, about 12:20 p.m., a fatal traffic collision occurred on US Highway 83 near Concan, Texas. The crash involved a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck traveling north on US 83 which crossed the centerline of the rural highway and collided with a medium-size bus. As a result of the crash, the bus driver and 12 passengers were fatally injured. The driver of the truck and one bus passenger sustained serious injuries.

The video includes clips of a recording made by a witness in a vehicle following the pickup truck. The original video was recorded using a Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone camera and was 14 minutes and 27 seconds in length. The video ended about 20 seconds prior to the crash. The video clips shown include a time stamp depicting the elapsed time relative to the beginning of the recording. Image stabilization software was used to reduce the motion of the camera seen in the original recording. Audio recording of the two occupants in the witness vehicle was removed.

Audio Script:
This video shows the operation of a pickup truck driven by a 20-year-old driver traveling north on US Highway 83 near Concan, Texas.

The video shows clips from a cell phone recording made by a witness following the truck. Time stamps indicate the elapsed time from the beginning of the recording. Image stabilization software was used to reduce the motion of the camera. The audio was
removed.

1. Time Stamp: 0:11
This clip shows the truck cross the centerline into the southbound lane of travel.

2. Time Stamp: 0:44
Here the truck drifts onto the right shoulder almost hitting a stopped truck.

3. Time Stamp: 3:15
The truck drives off the right road edge, recovers, and then continues to drive partially on the shoulder.

4. Time Stamp: 3:37
When the road widens to two lanes, the truck moves to the right and travels off the paved surface and onto the grass.

5. Time Stamp: 6:23
The truck moves partially onto the shoulder and then left and crosses the centerline and onto the shoulder on the opposite side of the highway.

6. Time Stamp: 6:54
The truck crosses the centerline again as it proceeds around a curve.

7. Time Stamp: 7:11
As the truck reaches a left-hand curve, it moves onto the right shoulder and then left; crossing the centerline again as the road transitions to a right-hand curve.

8. Time Stamp: 10:02
Here the truck crosses the centerline as it rounds a right-hand curve with a limited line of sight.

9. Time Stamp: 10:17
At the end of the curve, the truck moves onto the right shoulder.

10. Time Stamp: 12:04
The truck travels on the centerline rumble strips designed to alert drivers and proceeds partially into the opposing lane of travel.

11. Time Stamp: 12:56
The truck travels entirely within the opposing lane of travel on a vertical crest hill with a limited line of sight.

12. Time Stamp: 14:16
This clip shows the final ten seconds of the witness video. The recording ended about 20 seconds before the multiple fatality crash on the right-hand curve ahead.