NEW CANEY, Texas – A mother is dead and her son was injured after a runaway tire crashed through the windshield of her vehicle.
Carol Hardy, 52, of Hockley, was killed instantly according to a DPS trooper on the scene.
“I can’t believe this happened to her and she was such a great beautiful person, and she would do anything for anybody, and she was so sweet,” Hardy’s sister Donna Hull said on Friday.
The incident happened around 7:15 p.m. Thursday on the Eastex Freeway near Roman Forest in the New Caney area, authorities said.
Investigators said Hardy and her son, who will be attending San Jacinto college for baseball, were driving home when a Dodge pick-up truck heading in the opposite direction lost its wheel.
The wheel went airborne and flew over the concrete barrier before crashing into the windshield of the mother’s GMC pick-up truck, killing her instantly, authorities said.
Her son, who was asleep in the passenger seat, was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition. He has since been released.
Authorities said the driver of the Dodge managed to stop the truck and not cause further issues. The GMC, however, lost control after the impact and rear-ended another vehicle with a father and three children inside, authorities said.
The family of four was transported to a hospital in stable condition.
The driver of the pick-up that lost the wheel has not been charged with a crime. The investigation has not yet revealed why the truck lost the wheel.
A GoFundMe account has been set-up to help with expenses for the Hardy family.
