A 37-year-old El Paso man is dead after his pickup truck collided with another vehicle on the Transmountain Road mountain pass, in a crash investigators are blaming on an unsafe lane change. Eric Reyes, the driver of a black Toyota Tacoma, was pronounced dead at a local hospital following the collision, which happened Monday afternoon on Loop 375.
El Paso County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the crash at about 4:38 p.m. near Mile Marker 20 on Loop 375 westbound, according to KFOX. A preliminary investigation found that Reyes's Tacoma, which had been traveling westbound in the right lane, collided with a white Toyota Camry traveling westbound in the left lane. The station reports that deputies believe the Tacoma made an unsafe lane change just before the impact.
Reyes was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, per the same report. The crash caused serious injuries to others involved, though the station has not specified further details about those injured. Special Traffic Investigators, a specialized crash reconstruction unit within the sheriff's office, took over the investigation from initial responding deputies, and the case remains open.
Why a Specialized Unit Took Over
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office deploys its Special Traffic Investigators, or STI, specifically for collisions involving fatalities, life-threatening injuries, or complex vehicular crimes, according to the agency's own procedures. STI deputies conduct technical speed, braking, and impact trajectory analyses following fatal wrecks, which is why the unit stepped in once it became clear Reyes's injuries were fatal. It remains unknown whether investigators will identify contributing factors beyond the initial finding of an unsafe lane change, such as speed, mechanical failure, or driver impairment — a question the sheriff's office has not yet answered.
Under Texas Transportation Code § 545.060, drivers on multi-lane roadways are required to stay within a single lane as nearly as practical and may only move into another lane when it can be done safely, per FindLaw. Texas law holds drivers civilly and potentially criminally responsible if an unsignaled or unsafe lane shift causes a collision. Research cited by the Callahan Law Firm notes that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates an average lane-change maneuver takes roughly 1.5 seconds to complete, leaving surrounding drivers minimal time to react if a vehicle swerves unexpectedly.
A Mountain Pass With a Dangerous Reputation
The crash site sits along the mountain-pass stretch of Transmountain Road on the eastern edge of Franklin Mountains State Park, near the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, according to past reporting from KTSM 9 News. The road connects East and West El Paso across the park and is known for steep inclines, high speed limits, and cable barrier systems. Loop 375 also carries heavy commercial freight traffic, with more than 800,000 commercial trucks passing through El Paso annually, according to the Anthony Holm Law Firm, which notes the corridor's compressed lanes and high speeds make it one of the city's most documented high-risk stretches.
Just days before Reyes's crash, an overturned semi-truck on Transmountain Road near Loop 375 injured two people and forced lane closures on August 27. TxDOT has also invested in new infrastructure along the corridor, opening Texas's first mechanical runaway dragnet arrest system in the median of Loop 375 near Interstate 10 in July, engineered to stop runaway vehicles weighing up to 90,000 pounds traveling at 90 mph. The agency says the mechanical net was necessary because narrow right-of-way constraints ruled out a traditional gravel arrestor bed.
Part of a Grim Pattern on Loop 375
Reyes's death adds to a string of serious and fatal wrecks on Loop 375 this year. In a July 21 crash at the Interstate 10 Americas Interchange, two 24-year-old El Paso men were killed after a pickup truck swerved unsafely across lanes, with local police citing excessive speed and abrupt lane changes as primary factors. By mid-August, El Paso had already recorded 35 traffic-related deaths for the year, keeping the city roughly on pace with 2025 traffic mortality figures.
Countywide, Texas Department of Transportation data show El Paso County logged 18,344 total motor vehicle crashes in 2024, resulting in 80 fatalities — down from 101 traffic deaths in 2023 — and a fatality rate of 9.13 per 100,000 residents that remained below the national average of 11.6. Whether investigators will pinpoint additional contributing factors in Reyes's death beyond the unsafe lane change finding is still unclear, and the sheriff's office has not released further updates as the case continues.
