Rodolfo Ibarra Killed in Harris County, TX Crash with Mobile Home on US-90
UPDATE (January 11, 2023): The victim of this accident has been identified as 43-year-old Rodolfo Ibarra.
Harris County, TX — November 17, 2022, one person died in a crash with an oversized mobile-home trailer on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 90 in Harris County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 9:30 a.m. on the 19300 block of US-90 near Sheldon Road. Preliminary investigation suggests only that a Honda Civic was traveling east along the roadway when it somehow collided with the oversized mobile home on the trailer of a big rig that was parked on the outside shoulder. Investigators allege the truck driver was outside of the rig making repairs to the mobile home when the car approached, passed through the travel lanes, and crashed into the oversized cargo.
The car's driver died in the collision. No other injuries were reported.
No further information is currently available.
It's obviously concerning to see any vehicle hit another one on the shoulder, but these situations aren't always as clear-cut as people might think. There are still a great many outstanding questions in urgent need of answers to be sure the whole story is learned. What sent the car off the road? Was that issue within the driver's control or out of it? What was wrong with the big rig's cargo that needed repair? Was it an emergency? Was the truck parked legally? Was there anywhere else the driver could have stopped? How long had he been there? Did he place visibility devices like cones or reflectors around the rig?
More thorough investigations are still needed to say exactly what happened here, but it's important to realize that few accidents--perhaps least of all those involving commercial vehicles--are really as simple as a few sentences in preliminary reports make them sound. I think most would agree that the family of the man who lost his life here deserves the whole and true story of how and why that happened, so I hope authorities took the time and care needed to bring them some real answers.
