On today’s date (07/21/16), at approximately 12:35pm, the New Braunfels Police Department and the New Braunfels Fire Department were called to the 100 block of I-35 South (in the northbound main lanes) for reports of a multiple vehicle accident.
Crews arrived to find that the driver of a Mitsubishi Lancer had lost control while attempting to cut across a lane to get to the exit ramp for South Seguin Avenue. The driver overcorrected to the left and struck the front quarter panel of a Toyota Corolla. The impact from that collision caused the Corolla to slide front-end-first into the center concrete retaining wall. The Corolla was then struck on its side (t-boned) by a charter bus that was traveling from Mexico to Dallas.
The bus was carrying a full load of passengers (approximately 50 people); however, no one on board the bus was injured in the crash. The 19-year old female driver of the Corolla and her 19-year old female passenger (both from Copperas Cove), along with the 17-year old female driver of the Mitsubishi (from New Braunfels), suffered non-life threatening injuries as a result of the crash and all three were taken by EMS to New Braunfels area hospitals.
The main lanes of northbound I-35 were shut down for approximately 45 minutes while crews tended to the victims and cleared the scene. Although the incident remains under investigation, no charges are expected to be filed against any of the drivers.