Two central Texas men killed in two-truck crash in Fisher County, DPS says

FISHER COUNTY, Texas - Two central Texas men were killed, and another driver was injured Wednesday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash at an intersection in Fisher County, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. [Fox 7 Austin]

A collision between two pickup trucks claimed two lives Wednesday afternoon in Fisher County, according to investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The crash occurred at 4:17 p.m. at the intersection where U.S. Highway 180 crosses Farm to Market Road 611, roughly 100 miles west of Abilene. A 2015 Dodge Ram 3500 traveling east and a newer 2024 Ford F-150 were moving toward each other when the vehicles met at the intersection, DPS preliminary findings indicate.

The Dodge Ram's operator made a left turn directly into the path of the oncoming F-150, which then struck the Dodge. The left-turning maneuver constituted a failure to yield the right of way, according to DPS investigators. The impact proved fatal for two occupants in the Dodge Ram: driver Elmo Hiram Nowlain, 80, from Valley Mills, and passenger Andrew Joseph Starr, 39, from Hamilton. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Troopers investigating the crash determined that neither the driver nor passenger of the Dodge Ram had fastened their seatbelts at the time of impact. Safety restraints may have played a role in the severity of injuries sustained in the collision.

Joseph Timothy Shults, 38, of Ropesville, was operating the Ford F-150 at the time of the crash. Shults had properly secured his seatbelt before the collision occurred. He suffered minor injuries and received treatment at Fisher County Hospital.

The Texas Department of Public Safety continues its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.