Fort Worth police: Confusion from wreck, bad weather potential cause of deadly wrong-way crash

Confusion from another crash and rainy weather may have caused a deadly head-on crash in Fort Worth last Friday.

Fort Worth police said a wrong-way driver caused a fiery crash late Friday night that killed a dad, Ricardo Salcedo, and injured his wife and their two children. The wreck happened near north Main and Northwest Loop 820.

Prior to the crash, police said, there had been another fatal accident nearby two hours earlier. That scene on northbound I-35 caused significant back-up and sent drivers diverting to alternate routes on a rainy night. That stretch of highway also has no raised barrier.

Police believe the wrong-way driver, who's from another state, became confused while trying to navigate his way and entered into oncoming traffic and slammed into the Salcedos.

"That's what we believe, as he was going forward, we believe he exited trying to find his direction back and got disoriented in that area,” said FWPD spokesperson Tracy Carter.

Vanessa Salcedo, 27, her son, 6, and her daughter, 4, all suffered injuries from the head-on collision.

The victim's family members said Tuesday they question why signage or a median in the area isn't more pronounced to caution drivers away from the oncoming traffic. But their main focus is the battle facing the mother and her two children to overcome their injuries while mourning the loss of a husband and dad.

Police say their investigation is ongoing and any decision about potential charges would come once the case is sent to the Tarrant County District Attorney. As of Tuesday, there were no charges filed against the wrong-way driver.