June 16th, 2011 | 
Author: FALLON, NV.- Two Texas school teachers traveling on vacation were tragically killed on Monday, June 13, in a two vehicle collision 18 miles west of Fallon, Nevada. The city of Fallon is located about 70 miles east of Reno. Both of the victims were high school teachers from San Diego, TX which is located 55 miles northwest of Corpus Christi.
Renee J. Upchurch, 53 and Esther Garza, 59 killed in tragic truck accident
The two victims were Renee J. Upchurch, 53, who was pronounced dead at the scene and her friend, Esther Garza, 59, who died at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno after being taken from the scene by helicopter.
According to Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman, Chuck Allen, the accident occurred at approximately 8:32 a.m., when the women’s gray 2008 Ford Sport Trac pickup was parked on the right paved shoulder of U.S. Highway 50 Alternate one mile west of Farm District Road in Lyon County when the state highway truck rear-ended them.
“It is unclear why the vehicle was stopped and parked on the paved shoulder,” Allen said.
While they were in their pickup, Allen said a 1999 International 3-axle Nevada Department of Transportation truck that was part of a road-striping crew apparently left the highway and rear-ended the pickup. He said the impact of the accident pushed the pickup off the shoulder and into the desert.
“For reasons still to be determined and investigated, the big truck departed its travel lane and veered onto the right shoulder area and struck the rear of the pickup,” Allen said. “The pickup was pushed into the dirt area adjacent to the roadway and remained on its wheels while the large truck continued to travel just off the right roadway edge and rolled over onto its right side.”
Source Lahontan Valley News
Superintendent Ignacio Salinas Jr. said the community of 4,500 residents is in shock after hearing of the fatal accident.
“They were both math teachers, invaluable in this day and age,” Salinas said. “Renee taught geometry and Ester taught pre-calculus. More importantly, they were very dedicated teachers.”
Salinas said Garza had just retired from teaching, and her colleagues gave her a Las Vegas-themed party. He said Upchurch was planning to retire within the next two years.
Yet, it was their love of touring that took them West.
“Both enjoyed traveling and driving,” Salinas said.
Although he didn’t know their itinerary, he knew they wanted to see Las Vegas and other attractions in this part of the country and then return home to share their experiences.
Salinas, though, said people in San Diego are having a difficult time accepting the deaths of two popular educators.
“They were very well respected,” he said. “Our community gives our teachers a lot of respect and admiration. They made many impacts on students’ and adults’ lives. They were very conscientious about their teaching and both were coaches.”
“Their contributions will live forever because of their teaching,” he said, his voice softening. “They will be missed, but we will get through it. It won’t be easy.”
Comments:
Truck accident lawyers, Gordon, Elias & Seely say that tremendous difference in size and weight between trucks or 18 wheelers and automobiles often result in death or permanent and serious personal injuries. A big rig usually weighs in excess of 80,000 pounds and the tractor trailer combination may be over 70 feet long, therefore, its stopping distance takes far longer than a car. Too often, catastrophic and fatal rear-end truck accidents are caused by the negligence of the truck driver, evidenced by:
- Inattentiveness to construction zone signs or changes in traffic
- Driver distractions
- Following too closely
- Other human errors [fatigue, drunk driving, DUI, etc.]
Texas metropolitan cities with a high incident of truck accidents include Corpus Christi, Bay City, Dallas and Deer Park Texas to name a few.
Related searches:
Corpus Christi personal injury lawyer
Bay City personal injury lawyer
Dallas personal injury lawyer
Deer Park personal injury Lawyer
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