Austin police are investigating a fatal accident after a man crashed into a cement wall.

Police responded to a one vehicle crash around 2:41 a.m. at the intersection of North Capitol of Texas Highway and North Mopac.

Police tell KEYE TV the driver of a gold Toyota sedan was traveling northbound on Capitol of Texas Highway. When the Toyota reached the T-intersection on the northbound service road it crashed into a cement retaining wall.

The driver of the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Police aren’t releasing the name of the victim until the family has been notified.

This is the 14th traffic fatality in Austin for 2009.

Source: KEYETV.com

Police are investigating a one-vehicle accident in Northwest Austin early Saturday that left one man dead.

Lt. Max Johnson, a spokesman for the Austin Police Department, said that a man was driving a 2002 GMC pickup truck westbound on Anderson Mill Road between U.S. 183 and RM 620 around 2 a.m. The driver hit the south curb line, then crossed both lanes of traffic and made contact with the north curb line before the truck left the roadway and struck a sound barrier retaining wall, police said.

The driver was taken to University Medical Center at Brackenridge where he was pronounced dead shortly after the accident, Johnson said. The man’s name and age have not been released pending positive identification and notification of his relatives, according to police.

Johnson said investigators think alcohol might have been a factor in the accident. Anyone with more information about the incident is asked to call APD vehicular homicide detectives at 974-8543. Saturday’s accident is the 11th traffic fatality in Austin this year.

Source: statesman.com

The fatal capsizing of a Texas A&M University sailboat last June was due in part to the school’s inability to keep adequate records and examine and repair its fleet, according to a report prepared by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The report, obtained by the Austin American Statesman under the federal Freedom of Information Act, described internal reporting of groundings and other incidents as casual. It also said university officials were unaware that low tides at the marina at the Texas A&M campus in Galveston caused the vessel to rest on its keel.

Texas A&M spokesman Jason Cook told the American-Statesman that the university would need to review the Coast Guard’s findings as well as the university’s own investigation, which is ongoing, before reaching any conclusions about the incident.

The Cynthia Woods capsized when its keel and a portion of the hull surrounding it broke off during a race in the Gulf of Mexico. Safety officer Roger Stone drowned. Five other crew members spent 26 hours in the water until they were rescued.

The 52-page report provides a more detailed look at the Texas A&M fleet than a summary of the Coast Guard’s findings released in December, according to the newspaper.

“Vessel’s hull failed after multiple groundings, improper storage of the vessel on its keel in the marina and inadequate repair to known damage,” the report stated.

“No procedure is in place to ensure the integrity of a vessel after repairs are completed. Until asked by (Coast Guard) investigators to take soundings, the marina manager did not know the depth of the marina where the … Cynthia Woods had been moored for approximately two years.”

Only 15 of the 65 boats at the Texas A&M-Galveston campus survived Hurricane Ike, and those vessels are still grounded, Cook said.

Source: chron.com

A fatal traffic accident at the intersection of Giles Road and Highway 290 has blocked several eastbound lanes.  A truck and an RV collided.  The passenger of the truck died at the scene.  The driver was taken to the hospital. 

Both the driver and the passenger of the RV refused treatment. 

The collision also knocked down electrical lines.  Authorities are waiting for the power to the lines to be cut of before they can clear the scene.

Source: myfoxaustin.com