FRISCO — This story is about a Frisco couple's crusade in the name of their son.
Calvin Seidler, 21, was headed home for Christmas break last December when a car crash killed him.
It happened along Highway 380 between Denton and Wise County on a stretch of road his family calls extremely dangerous. They want you to hear their story in hopes of sparking change.
Calvin Seidler had just finished his first semester at Texas Tech. He was driving back home on Highway 380 from Lubbock for winter break when he attempted to pass an 18-wheeler.
"And then once he completed his pass, he was in a construction area, and there were barricades there that weren't there at the time that the pass started," said Richard Seidler, Calvin's father.
That's when the student crashed and was killed.
Calvin Seidler's family is doing what they can to make sure no other family suffers a similar tragedy. "Because too many people have died," said Jaclyn Seidler, his sister.
Kim Seidler, the accident victim's mother, fears the same thing will happen again.
"So many kids are coming back from Texas Tech this weekend, and the conditions are the same," she said.
The Seidlers say the number of accidents on Highway 380 shows the need for safety improvements. There have been 70 crashes here in the last year and six people have died.
Big rigs are abundant on the 12-mile stretch of highway where there are only two lanes with no medians.
"The speed limit is 60, but no one goes 60," Kim Seidler said. "It's more like 80."
Denton County Commissioner Andy Eads says a $74 million project to widen the portion of Highway 380 from two to four lanes is ready to go, but he says Texas lawmakers must first approve funding.
If that money is not forthcoming, Eads fears the highway will remain as it is now — very dangerous.
E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com
