Rollover Crash Labor Day I-35

The rollover crash of a van that killed a 6-month-old girl on Labor Day left a debris field like a plane crash along Interstate 35E near Hillsboro. Monday morning Interstate 35 E was littered with debris left by a rollover crash of a van that killed a 6-month-old girl on Labor Day.

Ripped cardboard boxes, children's clothes and personal items – including a picture of an unidentified man and woman holding an infant – were sprawled around the traffic lanes early Monday, where the van rolled.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Charlie Morgan said Tuesday that troopers are still investigating the crash and have not determined the cause of the accident or whether charges will be filed against the van's driver, Abel Luna of Dallas.
Luna, 66, was treated and released from Parkland Memorial Hospital. The crashed van is a 1994 15-passenger Dodge Ram.

That van is registered to Edgar Labastida, an Oak Cliff man who is also the registered owner of 14 other vehicles. Six Suburbans, two flatbed trucks, two "utility" vehicles, two pickups, one sedan and one "tube tanker," have all been purchased in the past four years. All vehicles are registered at an address that tax records classify as residential.
Labastida was unavailable to comment Tuesday. According to groundwork reports, the baby who died, Evelyn Kate Garcia, was not in an infant seat or any other type of restraint. No other passengers were wearing seatbelts. 

As part of the investigation, troopers will determine whether Luna was properly licensed. A tire blowout may have played a role in the crash, which occurred about 2 a.m. Monday. The driver lost control, and the van and trailer rolled over repeatedly until the van came to rest upside down.
According to the DPS, 13 passengers went to area hospitals – John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Parkland in Dallas and Children's Medical Center Dallas. Fortunately none seemed to have life threatening injuries.

It seems there are a lot of questions surrounding the reasons and the logistics of this crash. Questions concerning why Luna was driving 15 people in a van at 2 a.m in the morning. Questions about why none of the passengers were wearing seatbelts. Hopefully a thorough accident investigation will answer all these questions running through my head.

Regardless of the logistics of how this wreck occurred; more serious concerns are why no one was wearing seatbelts and why the infant was not in any type of safety seat. Wearing a seatbelt can save your life. 70 percent of occupant fatalities in the 16 to 20 (68%), 21 to 24 (68%), and 25 to 34 (69%) age cohorts were not wearing seatbelts during nighttime. Maybe the infant would not have died if she had been properly restrained.
 
Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Van Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. For more information regarding any type of car accident, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.