• July 20, 2022

Moore County, TX -- July 18, 2022, Arturo Duran-Ortiez was killed, Elva Duran-Valdez and Tomas Lopez were injured, following a car accident.

Investigators reported that the crash took place Monday afternoon just outside of Etter along FM 281.

According to officials, 41-year-old Elva Duran-Valdez and 42-year-old Arturo Duran-Ortiz were in a 2018 Toyota SUV. While reportedly passing a vehicle in the westbound lane, the Toyota crashed head-on with a 2012 Kia Sorento reportedly driven by 22-year-old Tomas Lopez.

Due to the crash, Duran-Ortiz sustained fatal injuries. Duran-Valdez and Lopez were both taken to area hospitals with serious injuries.

No further information about the crash is available at this time.

Commentary on Arturo Duran-Ortiz , Elva Duran-Valdez, Tomas Lopez Car Accident in Moore County

One of the most challenging things about discussing car accidents like this is helping people to understand that they may not be at all as simple as they may seem. Not only can all kinds of factors lead to a crash like this, but there are even other factors drivers have no control over which can cause a survivable crash to turn deadly.

For example, this is described as a "head-on" collision. Generally speaking, vehicles these days are well-designed to withstand direct impacts, especially between vehicles of comparable sizes. This isn't always true, of course, depending on how serious a collision is. But if the crash is nearly head-on, and the vehicles hit each other on the corners, that can get complex due to the fact that there are safety measures which can be taken to reduce the severity of those impacts which many manufacturers simply neglect to do. As a result, folks who may have survived in one manufacturer's vehicle may not in another brand.

Could it be that something like that happened here? Maybe not, but I'd say one person dying and two facing serious injuries is more than enough reason to make sure they and their families are getting all the facts.

[jump]