Rainfall was a factor in the death of a man killed in a truck accident Friday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a media release.
The accident happened Friday afternoon on U.S. Highway 83 S. in Taylor County, the DPS said.
A 2021 Freightline truck tractor towing a 2018 Wabash semi-trailer was traveling south at 12:47 p.m. on U.S. Highway 83, and the rig was driven by Navdeep Singh, 29, of Collingwood, Ontario, the DPS said.
A passenger, Dawinder Singh Dhaliwal, 40, of Surrey, British Columbia, was in the sleeper berth, and he was unrestrained, the DPS said.
A preliminary investigation found the tractor-trailer rig was traveling at an unsafe speed since the roadway was wet after a recent rainfall, the DPS said.
The driver failed to negotiate a curve, and the vehicle hydroplaned and left the road to the west, the DPS said.
The rig collided with a tree, the DPS said. The passenger, Dhaliwal, was pronounced dead at the scene by death investigator Sabrina Palacios of Abilene Professional Services at 4 p.m. Friday.
The driver, Singh, suffered a minor injury, the DPS said. He was wearing a seatbelt.
Trish Choate is the executive editor for the Abilene Reporter-News, San Angelo Standard-Times and Wichita Falls Times Record News. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@USATodayco.com. Read her recent work here.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Rain leads to fatal crash
Reporting by Trish Choate, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Trish Choate, Abilene Reporter-News | USA TODAY Network
