Topline
A pickup truck involved in a fatal accident in West Texas on Tuesday was driven by a 13-year-old child, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday, as more details emerge on the crash that killed nine people—including the 13-year-old and six college students.
Emergency responders work the scene of a fatal crash late Tuesday in Andrews County, Texas.
Key Facts
The 13-year-old was behind the wheel of a 2007 Dodge pickup truck when a front tire failed on a rural road near Odessa, Texas, causing it to swerve and crash head-on into a 2017 Ford Transit van, NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg told reporters Thursday.
The collision killed the child and an adult in the truck, as well as six student-athletes and a golf coach from New Mexico’s University of the Southwest who were riding in the van after competing in a tournament, police and university officials said earlier this week.
Landsberg didn’t specify how fast the truck and van were moving, but he said the posted speed limit was 75 miles per hour, and called it “clearly a high-speed head-on collision.”
Key Background
Under Texas law, residents need to be 15 to receive a learner license, which allows them to operate a car under the supervision of an adult.
Tangent
Two additional University of the Southwest students survived the crash and are receiving medical treatment in Texas, the school said in a press conference earlier Thursday.
Further Reading
NTSB: Child was driving truck that struck van killing 9 (Associated Press)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/03/17/13-year-old-drove-truck-in-texas-collision-that-killed-9-federal-officials-say/