Dangerous sharp turn in Waller County claims 2 lives in separate crashes
BROOKSHIRE, TEXAS - Concerns are growing in Waller County after two separate accidents ended with drivers missing a sharp turn and crashing into the Brazos River on two separate occasions.
Elizabeth Avila and her family spent weeks searching for her brother Arturo Avila after he never came home the night of February 1. Just last week, the Waller County Sheriff's Office found his car in the Brazos River.
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"The night he was driving it was foggy, misty, rainy, there were no lights, nothing to indicate there was a sharp turn coming his way," Avila said.
Days after his car was found, Arturo's own father found his body washed up ashore. His sister says she believes he missed his usual exit and took the Peach Ridge exit off of I-10 in Brookshire.
"They should put more flashing lights; this is a very dangerous sharp turn here," said Avila.
Samantha Brown has been living near this sharp curve for more than a decade; on February 20, she recorded a video showing a man's car being pulled from the river after he seemingly made the same mistake as Arturo. She says it happened in the early morning hours before the sun came up, and that she saw officers pulling the older man's lifeless body from the car.
"It's easy to keep straight, and just go straight into the river, especially if you don't know that the river is there," Brown said.
Brown says there used to be a guardrail blocking the area and numerous drivers would crash into it, but when a construction project started last year it was removed. Up until a couple of days ago, there was no barrier in place at all. And as for the construction barriers recently put up, both Avila and Brown say that's not enough.
"You can easily drive right through them, I think concrete barricades are needed," Avila said.
The Texas Department of Transportation sent FOX 26 the following statement:
"This u-turn curve under the bridge is 200-300 feet from the river. TxDOT is reconstructing I-10 in this area and have all of the required safety parameters for barrier and signage met. We will be adding safety barrier here to enhance the safety measures between the project and the river. Safety is always our number one priority and any time we see an area of concern, we look at what can be done to increase safety measures beyond what is required by law."