Officials say a motorist was distracted by her cat before crashing her vehicle into a guardrail early Wednesday morning, causing a chain reaction crash that sent a semi truck skidding across the highway.
The incident happened on January 3rd at approximately 12:15 a.m. in Wise County, Texas.
According to Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Lonny Haschel, an unidentified motorist and her cat were traveling north on Highway 287 when the woman became distracted by the animal, causing her to crash into the center guardrail. The driver then pulled over to the right shoulder, a witness and a state trooper following close behind.
A semi truck traveling north on Highway 287 then changed lanes to avoid the parked vehicles, causing the truck to collide with the damaged guardrail protruding into the far left lane. The force of the impact sent the big rig crashing through the median and into the southbound lanes where it was struck by an oncoming SUV, reported NBC Dallas Fort-Worth.
Both the driver of the SUV and the trucker were transported to a nearby hospital with non life threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported in the crash.
It is not clear what citations, if any, will be issued to the woman and her cat.