A multi-vehicle crash south of FM 428 in Aubrey sent one car flipping over a guardrail and into a creek Wednesday evening, trapping the driver underwater while emergency crews worked to pull them free. The wreck around 6:25 p.m. forced authorities to shut down all northbound and southbound lanes of FM 1385 as fire crews, police, and HAZMAT teams converged on the scene near a small creek south of the FM 428 intersection.
According to the Aubrey Police Department, a preliminary investigation found that a northbound vehicle on FM 1385 failed to maintain a single lane and crossed into southbound traffic, crashing head-on into another southbound vehicle. The northbound vehicle then struck a guardrail, while a second southbound vehicle went over the guardrail and became submerged in a small creek, landing upside down with its driver trapped inside. Emergency personnel began life-saving measures and extricated the trapped driver, the department said, though no details on that driver's condition were released.
The crash also caused a hazardous spill. Police said the second vehicle leaked oil and gas into the creek, prompting HAZMAT crews to be called to the scene to address the contamination. As of the department's Wednesday night statement, the investigation remained active, and police said no other information would be released at that time.
Multiple Agencies Answer the Call
The Aubrey Police Department and Aubrey Fire Department were dispatched to the multi-vehicle crash on FM 1385 south of FM 428, but the scope of the wreck required outside help. Police specifically thanked the Pilot Point ISD Police Department, Pilot Point Police Department, Celina Police Department, and the Denton County Sheriff's Office for providing personnel and resources. That kind of mutual aid is standard for major incidents in the area — the Aubrey Fire Department relies on inter-local assistance contracts with surrounding municipalities and special districts to manage large-scale emergencies across northern Denton County, according to the Pilot Point Post-Signal. Assistant Chief Jeremy Johnson was listed as the point of contact for the release.
A Corridor With a History of Deadly Wrecks
Wednesday's crash is far from an isolated event on this stretch of roadway. Just over a month earlier, on July 6, a 64-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle collision at the FM 1385 and FM 455 intersection in nearby Pilot Point after a driver failed to yield right-of-way, per the Post-Signal's reporting. That crash drew emergency response from both the Pilot Point and Aubrey fire departments.
The FM 1385 and FM 428 intersection specifically has seen repeated serious wrecks in recent years. A major collision there in September 2024 caused multiple injuries and forced an extended roadway closure, according to The McGuire Firm. The month before that, in August 2024, paramedics hospitalized at least one victim after another severe multi-vehicle accident at the same junction forced traffic to shut down near FM 428.
Growth Outpaces a Two-Lane Road
The pattern of crashes tracks with explosive growth along the corridor. Commercial real estate analysis from late 2025 found annual population growth exceeding 25% along the FM 1385 corridor in northern Denton County, fueled by master-planned communities like Bryson Ranch and Sandbrock Ranch, according to LandSearch. Thousands of new home lots are planned or under construction along the same narrow, two-lane rural road. Pat Hagen Cheek Middle School, which opened along FM 1385 in 2023 to serve the growing Braswell High School attendance zone, has also added significantly to daily commuter traffic in the area.
State and local officials have taken notice. Transportation officials allocated $38 million in July to fund Phase 1 of widening FM 1385 from U.S. 380 to Union Park Boulevard, with Denton County partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation to accelerate design and utility relocation, the Post-Signal reported. That funding is part of a much larger $320 million TxDOT plan to reconstruct and expand 12.1 miles of FM 1385 into a four-to-six-lane divided urban highway between U.S. 380 and FM 455, a project detailed by LTRA Engineering that requires acquiring more than 124 acres of right-of-way. In the meantime, TxDOT maintenance crews performed paving and seal coat work along FM 1385 earlier this month, part of an in-house effort to keep up with upkeep on the corridor while the larger widening project moves forward.
For now, the condition of the driver pulled from the submerged vehicle, the extent of the environmental cleanup from the fuel leak, and whether citations will follow the crash all remain open questions tied to the active investigation. The Aubrey Police Department can be reached at (940) 365-2601 or [email protected] for anyone with information.
