Joe Lawrence Ross Dies At Hospital Following Accident Involving Three Vehicles

An accident in Sherman, TX occurred around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 28, involving three vehicles and four people. Joe Lawrence Ross was the passenger of an SUV that crossed the center median heading eastbound on Highway 82. The SUV ended up hitting another SUV head-on. 

The third vehicle was a truck that ended up hitting both of the SUVs. It was reported that one of the vehicles caught fire, but emergency response got the fire extinguished quickly.

All four of the victims involved in the accident were transported to a nearby hospital to receive treatment. Ross was later pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital. He was 62 years of age and lived in Denison. The other three involved in the accident suffered serious injuries but none that are considered to be life-threatening.

The investigation team for the Sherman police department will be investigating the scene to determine what happened and why the SUV crossed the median in the first place. They are unsure if the weather was a factor in the accident. It was raining at the time of the accident, but the police sergeant was not confident enough to determine that as the cause.

Investigators who are called to assess the scene will follow certain procedures to determine what may have caused the accident. A part of the investigative process is the gathering and calculation of the information. 

• The speed of the vehicles prior to impact
• The angles that the vehicles approached
• A crush evaluation of the vehicles
• The distance the car moved
• If there was any braking done during the accident
• The evaluation of scrapes and skid marks on the road with a test skid for reference. Test skids are when police use their cars to recreate the same skid marks under the exact same weather circumstances as a reference point.
• Examination of the roadway and shoulder

Once all of the pertinent information is collected, investigators will recreate the accident including drawings that are to scale. They will essentially use all the moving parts to understand what happened and why the collision happened.