About 8:17 p.m. central daylight time on March 15, 2022, a crash occurred between a pickup truck and a van towing a trailer on Farm to Market (FM) Road 1788 in Andrews, Andrews Country, Texas. A 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck, traveling southbound, crossed the centerline and collided nearly head-on with a northbound 2017 Ford Transit 350 van towing a 2019 Salvation trailer. The impact initiated a postcrash fire that consumed the van and the pickup truck. Seven occupants of the van and two occupants of the pickup truck died, and two van passengers were seriously injured.
We determined that the probable cause of the Andrews, Texas, crash was the pickup truck driver’s excessive speed and his crossing into the oncoming lane of travel, likely because of impairment from methamphetamine use.
Driving above the speed limit or too fast for conditions is dangerous on its own, but as this crash has exemplified, speeding is particularly dangerous when combined with impairment. In 2021, about 60% of roadway fatalities in the United States were attributed to speeding and/or alcohol impairment (NHTSA 2023). The NTSB has adopted a multi-faceted approach in addressing these risks, including issuing safety recommendations related to vehicle technologies—impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems, and intelligent speed assistance—as well as improving toxicological testing and enforcing speeding violations.
