Dallas—
The state highway department is among the defendants listed on a lawsuit filed by a Tarrant County woman Wednesday.On July 5th, Melissa Hinkle lost her 13 year old son Casey and her father Dale in a wreck on I-35 near Gainsville. "Loosing her father and her only son in the same collision apart from her own injuries has been devastating," said Hinkle's attorney Steven Laird.
The family was traveling north on I-35 when they came up on a construction zone. As they slowed to a stop a tractor trailer came up from behind and plowed into the families Ford Explorer. "What makes it so tragic is that it could have been prevented," said Laird.
To bolster the case, just last week 3 More people died in a similar wreck along the same construction zone. "I don't know how you point fingers at a construction project but how do you rationalize 5 people being dead," said Cooke county sheriff Michael Compton. "Just finishing the job would help" said Compton. The contractor has fallen behind and should have finished last week. Instead the work is only at the half way point and continues to cause miles of traffic jams and accidents. "A lot of people don't think there working very hard out there," said Compton.
TxDot says it has been promised that the contractor will work after hours to get it done. It also says it's added more lighted signs to warning drivers to slow down.
