Multicar crash on I35 in Fort Worth highlights dangers of distracted driving and speeding
Jan 22, 2025
A chain reaction crash that damaged eight vehicles on I-35 near Rosedale Street in Fort Worth shut down traffic in both directions on Wednesday morning.
Pictures from the scene show one car flipped nearly upside down, crushed against the median. No one was injured.
NBC 5 spoke with police who said concerning behavior on the freeways was putting drivers at risk.
“So this accident looks like it started by driver inattention,” said Buddy Calzada, public information officer with the Fort Worth Police Department.
Police said around 11 a.m. as traffic slowed getting close to downtown, a driver not paying attention slammed into the back of another car, causing a chain reaction that damaged eight vehicles.
A witness told NBC 5 he had to break the windshield of a car that was nearly flipped over by a semi-truck and pull the man inside to safety.
“The great thing is, the fortunate thing is, no serious injuries on this major accident on a very busy freeway,” said Calzada.
Officials told us the incident highlighted an ongoing issue on interstates: distracted drivers – and high speed.
“First vehicle we pick up right here is 80 miles an hour,” said Calzada as he looked through the viewfinder of his LIDAR device.
Police showed NBC 5 just how fast drivers were going in one stretch of I-20.
Many drivers in the left lane were clocked speeding at least 10 miles an hour over the limit.
“80 miles an hour,” said Calzada of a different vehicle. “Here’s another one right here, 81 miles an hour on that black SUV right there.”
Officials told us that today’s wreck may not have caused any major injuries – but that wouldn’t always be the case unless drivers changed their behavior.
“We want everybody just to pay attention, and that cell phone, put that phone away,” said Calzada.