13-year-old was driving truck in Texas crash that ... - NBC News

The child was driving the truck that swerved into a van carrying members of the University of the Southwest golf teams Tuesday night, ... IE11isnotsupported.Foranoptimalexperiencevisitoursiteonanotherbrowser.SKIPTOCONTENTNBCNewsLogoRussia-UkrainefullcoverageLiveUpdatesPlanYourVotePoliticsCovidU.S.NewsOpinionShare&Save —SearchSearchFacebookTwitterEmailSMSPrintWhatsappRedditPocketFlipboardPinterestLinkedinMyNewsManageProfileEmailPreferencesSignOut13-year-oldwasbehindthewheelinTexascrashthatkilled9:NTSBMarch18,202201:58LinkcopiedMarch17,2022,8:53PMUTC / Updated March18,2022,5:54PMUTCByDohaMadaniA13-year-oldwasdrivingapickuptruckthatcrashedintoavancarryingmembersofaNewMexicouniversity'sgolfteams,killingninepeopleinWestTexasonTuesdaynight,officialssaidThursday.Anearlyinvestigationrevealedthatthetruckhadasparewheelinplaceofitsleftfronttire,accordingtoNationalTransportationSafetyBoardViceChairmanBruceLandsberg.Thatsparetireseemedtohavefailed,causingthetrucktoswerveinfrontofthevan."A13-year-oldchildwasbehindthewheelofthepickuptruck,"LandsbergsaidduringaThursdaynewsconference.Thewheeldidnotappeartobeanemergency-use"doughnut"spare,butwassimilartotherestofthetires.Theleftfronttirehadasteelrimthatremainedintactwhilethethreeothertireswereextensivelydamaged.ThevanwascarryingmembersoftheUniversityoftheSouthwestmen’sandwomen’sgolfteams,whoweretravelingforatournament.Sixofthestudent-athleteswerekilledinthecrash,alongwithacoach.The13-year-oldpickuptruckdriverandapassenger,38-year-oldHenrichSiemens,werealsokilledinthecrash.TheTexasDepartmentofPublicSafetyidentifiedthefatallyinjuredcoachandteammembersWednesdayasTylerJames,26;MauricioSanchez,19;TravisGarcia,19;JacksonZinn,22;KarisaRaines,21;LaciStone,18;andTiagoSousa,18.DaytonPrice,19,andHaydenUnderhill,20,thetwootherpeopleinthevan,werelistedincriticalcondition.LandsbergdidnothaveanupdateontheirconditionThursday.TexasDepartmentofPublicSafetytrooperslookoverthesceneofafatalcarwreck,inAndrewsCounty,Texas,onWednesday.EliHartman/OdessaAmericanviaAPTheTexasDepartmentofPublicSafetymadethedeterminationthatthechildwasdrivingbasedontheidentificationoftheremainsinthedriverseatfollowingapost-crashfire,Landsbergsaid.LandsbergnotedthattheNTSBisanindependentagencythatwillinvestigatethecrashbutisnotinvolvedwithpotentialcriminalcharges.NTSBinvestigatorsarestilllookingintowhetherthevehiclerecorderssurvivedthecrashtodownloaddataonhowfasttheyweregoingpriortotheaccident.Thespeedlimitonthehighwayis75mph."Itwasveryclearlyahigh-speed,head-oncollisionbetweentwoheavyvehicles,"Landsbergsaid."Wehaveliterallythousandsofpicturesthatweretakenbythevariousfirstresponders,andthereisnoquestionabouttheforceofimpact."Severalpassengersinthevanappearedtonothavebeenwearingseatbeltsduringthecrash,andatleastonewasejectedfromthevehicleduringthecollision.AdamagedpickuptruckonthesideoftheroadatthesceneofafatalcarwreckinAndrewsCounty,Texas,onMarch16,2022.EliHartman/OdessaAmericanviaAPTheNTSBpreliminaryreportwillbereleasedinapproximatelytwotothreeweeks,butafinalreportwillnotbereleasedfor12to18months,accordingtoLandsberg.Highwaysseeauniquelyhighamountoffatalities,withLandsbergnotingthatthenumberofpeoplekilled everytwodays onthenation’shighwaysis"theequivalentofaBoeing737.""Thecarnageonourhighwaysexceedsanyothermodeoftransportation,"hesaid."Innoothermodewouldwetolerate100-plusfatalitieseachandeveryday....Sowethinkit’shightimewetakeourdrivingabitmoreseriously."DohaMadaniDohaMadaniisaseniorbreakingnewsreporterforNBCNews.Pronouns:she/her.