Emergency responders were called to the scene of a one-vehicle accident approximately 1 mile from the top of Bangs Hill on Monday afternoon on U.S. Highway 67/84.

At approximately 3:50pm, a Ford Explorer was heading inbound to Brownwood when its driver became distracted over something falling into the floorboard, according to officials on scene.  As she reached for it, she drove into the median of the divided highway, then overcorrected and spun her vehicle around.

According to Department of Public Safety Trooper Martin Molotsky who is investigating the accident, the vehicle did not rollover, but the driver did spin the vehicle around, hitting a culvert which actually kept the vehicle from flipping over.  Molotsky stated that the cause of the accident was “inattention” and that the driver stated something was in the floorboard and had gotten under the foot pedal, and as she reached for it she went off the road.

The driver of the vehicle is identified as 17-year-old Karina Garcia, a Bangs High School student.  Garcia was reported to be in good condition; however, she was loaded into Guardian EMS ambulance and transported to the Brownwood Regional Medical Center for evaluation of possible injuries.

The scene of this afternoon accident was the same stretch of roadway where another accident occurred involving three vehicles earlier this morning, within approximately 100 yards.

Responding to the scene were Texas Department of Public Safety, Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Brownwood Fire Department and Guardian EMS.

Above and below are photos from the accident scene.