Texas Crash Kills Three Teens
According to the Austin American-Statesman, three teenagers died and five people were seriously injured in a two-vehicle collision Saturday afternoon on Texas 71 in western Travis County. 
Austin High School student Audrey Ducote and Marble Falls High School student Randall H. Hibler, both 16, were killed in the wreck. Lauren Hoffman, 17, of Waco was also killed. Saturday's rainy weather was a factor in the collision, which occurred at 1:08 p.m. on Texas 71 at Bee Creek Road, Texas Department of Public Safety officials said.
Investigators say it appears that the collision occurred when Hibler's mother, Tammy Sue Goodman, failed to negotiate a turn in the 2003 Ford pickup she was driving.
Goodman was traveling east on Texas 71 with Hibler and his 7-year-old half-brother, Stephen Austin Goodman, when the truck hydroplaned and veered into the oncoming traffic.
The truck hit a 2006 four-door Acura being driven by Amy Catherine Wright, 43. In the car with Wright were Ducote and Hoffman, as well 17-year-olds Kathryn Elizabeth Powers and Katherine Ann Singleton.
Ducote and Hoffman were not wearing seat belts, Department of Public Safety spokesman Kevin Byers said.
Goodman is in stable condition at University Medical Center at Brackenridge in Austin and her younger son is in stable condition at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, Byers said. Both have head injuries.
Wright, Singleton and Powers are in critical condition at University Medical Center, hospital officials said.
Hibler and his mother were on their way to Cabela's sporting goods store in Buda at the time of wreck, said Hibler's father, Randy.
"They were going to get him new arrows for his bow," he said through tears. "He loves hunting and fishing and sports."
Hibler played football and baseball for Marble Falls High.
It's unclear how the teens in the other car and Wright knew one another. A family friend who answered the phone Saturday night at Ducote's home said he did not know their relationships but confirmed that Ducote was an Austin High student.
Over the past year, residents and elected officials have raised concerns about safety along the stretch of Texas 71 where Saturday's wreck occurred. There have been multiple fatal wrecks on the portion of the highway that winds from the Village of Bee Cave to the western edge of Travis County. A wreck last June killed three Round Rock educators.
The driver, Stephen David Mole, was sentenced this month to 30 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. The 54-year-old Keller man must serve at least half of his sentence because a Denton County jury found that he had used his car as a deadly weapon. .jpg)
