One Dead in I-20 Crash Near Eastland, Abilene Police Chief Says I-20 Drivers are “Tripping Over Sunshine”

EASTLAND, TX — Stopping on the freeway due to an overturned truck tractor with a trailer full of new cars ended in death for a family occupying an SUV early Saturday morning.

According to the Texas DPS, the fatal crash happened sometime before 7 a.m. near mile marker 335 in Eastland on I-20.

A car hauler turned over, blocking traffic in the eastbound lanes. An eastbound SUV stopped due to the roadway being blocked. Then, another eastbound vehicle rear-ended the SUV resulting in the death of one occupant. Two other occupants were rushed to Eastland Memorial Hospital with unknown injuries.

DPS is withholding the names of the dead and injured pending the conclusion of the investigation, and notification of the next-of-kin.

Yesterday, Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge addressed the rising number of crashes and fatalities on I-20. Last year, there were 367 crashes on I-20 between Clyde to Trent, KTXS reported that Standridge said. Most of those crashes were in Abilene.

Standridge said in the past, he wouldn’t think twice about driving on I-20 to go anywhere. Now, he said, he’s having second thoughts and looking for alternate routes.

Most of the crashes are happening in the daytime along long, straight stretches of interstate highway, he said. “We are literally tripping over sunshine,” Standridge told KTXS.