Just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 21, 2026, Manor police officers arrived at the 11700 block of North FM 973 Road to find two vehicles destroyed and five people — including two infants — fighting for their lives. A 23-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene. An 11-month-old had to be resuscitated on the roadway by first responders before being rushed to Dell Children’s Medical Center. A 2-year-old was also transported in critical condition. The crash brought four agencies to the scene and shut down FM 973 for hours. But to longtime residents and traffic safety officials, the scene was heartbreakingly familiar.

FM 973, a two-lane farm-to-market road running through eastern Travis County and into Williamson County, has become one of the most consistently dangerous roads in the Austin metropolitan area. TxDOT’s own crash data shows more than 230 crashes recorded along just a five-mile stretch of the roadway — from Steger Lane to U.S. Highway 290 — since 2019. The road has been the site of at least a dozen documented fatal crashes in the past four years alone, with multiple incidents claiming three or four lives at once.

This article examines the documented crash history on FM 973, why engineers and residents say the road is inherently dangerous, and what TxDOT is — and isn’t — doing about it. If you or a family member has been injured in a car accident on FM 973 or anywhere in Travis or Williamson County, understanding your legal rights is an essential first step.

The Most Recent Tragedy: June 2026 Crash Leaves One Dead, Four in Critical Condition

A Pattern of Deadly Crashes — Not a String of Bad Luck

The June 2026 crash is not an isolated tragedy on FM 973 — it is the latest chapter in a multi-year pattern of deadly collisions. In February 2024, four people were killed at the intersection of FM 812 and FM 973 when a wrong-way driver caused a catastrophic head-on collision involving multiple vehicles. Just five weeks later, in March 2024, three more people died in a separate multi-vehicle crash on FM 973 in eastern Travis County. In January 2024, a driver was ejected from his vehicle and killed in a rollover near Schmidt Loop. That is seven confirmed fatalities in the first three months of 2024 on or immediately adjacent to FM 973 — a rate that shocked even longtime observers of Central Texas traffic.

2025 and 2026 have continued the pattern. A head-on crash in September 2025 — in which a southbound Ram 1500 crossed into oncoming traffic about half a mile north of Manor’s city limits — killed the driver of the opposing vehicle at the scene. In 2026: a motorcyclist was killed on South FM 973 near Del Valle in March; Humberto Espino Vasquez died at the FM 973 and Burleson Road intersection in May; and the June 21 crash added another confirmed fatality and four critically injured victims, including two infants. Looking further back, December 2022 brought multiple crashes and at least two deaths in a single week, including a 20-year-old woman. At the intersection of FM 973 and U.S. Highway 290 — a four-way stoplight at the heart of Manor — residents and community leaders have described it as a long-standing trouble spot where crashes are almost expected.

Why FM 973 Is So Dangerous: Infrastructure That Has Not Kept Pace With Growth

FM 973 was originally designed as a farm-to-market road — a rural connector built to move agricultural traffic between communities, not an urban arterial capable of handling tens of thousands of vehicles per day. But the Manor and eastern Travis County corridor has been one of the fastest-growing areas in Texas over the past decade, powered by the Tesla Gigafactory in southeast Travis County, Samsung’s massive semiconductor operations near Taylor, and relentless residential expansion between Austin and Hutto. Traffic volumes that were manageable in 2010 have multiplied several times over, and the road’s basic infrastructure — two lanes, no median, limited shoulders, 65 mph speed limit — has not come close to keeping up.

In 2022, TxDOT’s data showed 205 crashes on FM 973 in a single year — 178 in Travis County and 27 in Williamson County. Between 2020 and 2024, data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System for just the stretch between US 290 and Steger Road documented three fatalities, 15 suspected serious injuries, and 48 suspected minor injuries. In 2023, 60 crashes were recorded on that same five-mile corridor — the single highest annual count in the CRIS database for that segment. TxDOT eventually launched a formal speed study and, upon completing it, recommended reducing the speed limit from 65 to 55 mph in a key segment. That recommendation was awaiting Texas Transportation Commission approval as of early 2026 — meaning the 65 mph speed limit remained in effect through some of the deadliest crashes on the corridor.

The Structural Problems: Speed, Intersections, and an Outdated Road Design

Several engineering factors make FM 973 especially unforgiving. The road operates at 65 miles per hour — a highway-level speed — on a two-lane undivided roadway with limited shoulder space, no raised median, and multiple at-grade intersections where vehicles cross or turn at speed. Residential driveways, cross streets, school zones, and highway ramps all feed into the corridor with minimal separation and insufficient sight distances. At night — when several of the deadliest crashes have occurred, including the June 2026 collision just before 4 a.m. — much of the road outside Manor city limits is unlit. Longtime residents describe a culture of excessive speed, red-light running at the US 290 intersection, and dangerous passing attempts on sections simply not designed to accommodate them.

TxDOT and CAMPO (the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) have acknowledged the hazard and launched a formal FM 973 Corridor Study, evaluating the stretch from US 290 in Manor north to Samsung Highway near Taylor. The study is analyzing alignment alternatives including widening to four travel lanes separated by a grassy median with dedicated turn lanes. Some incremental improvements have been made: new traffic signals installed at FM 973 and Braker Lane, a signal at Murchison Street under design, and a widening project from Tesla Road to FM 969 expanding from two lanes to four with a continuous center-turn lane. But the most critical safety improvement — the full realignment and widening of FM 973 from SH 130 to US 290 — remained unfunded as of mid-2026. Until that project is built, a road that residents describe as “not safe” continues carrying urban-level traffic volumes under rural road conditions.

If You Were Injured on FM 973: Understanding Your Legal Rights in Texas

In Texas, when a car accident injures you or kills a family member, you may have legal claims against multiple parties — not just the driver who caused the crash. Depending on the circumstances, responsible parties can include other motorists, commercial trucking companies if a large vehicle was involved, vehicle manufacturers if a defect contributed to the collision, or government entities responsible for designing and maintaining safe road conditions. A corridor with a documented, multi-year crash history and acknowledged engineering deficiencies can be relevant to a government liability claim in appropriate circumstances. These cases require specific legal expertise and early investigation.

Under Texas law, injured victims generally have two years from the date of a crash to file a personal injury claim. Families who have lost someone in a fatal collision have the same two-year window to pursue a wrongful death action. Missing that deadline typically extinguishes the right to recover compensation entirely — which is why it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible, even before a full investigation is complete, and even when you are still focused on medical recovery.

Compensation in a Texas car accident case can include past and future medical bills, lost wages and loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, and — in cases involving egregious negligence — punitive damages. Wrongful death claims can additionally include compensation for loss of companionship, mental anguish, and funeral and burial expenses. The value of any claim depends heavily on the quality of early investigation, the evidence preserved in the days and weeks after the crash, and the legal team that builds and presents the case.

Critical evidence in FM 973 crashes often includes vehicle dash camera footage, cell phone records, witness contact information, TxDOT crash investigation reports, business security footage from nearby properties, and data from the vehicles’ electronic control modules — sometimes called black boxes. This evidence can begin to disappear quickly: security footage is overwritten, vehicles are repaired or scrapped, and witnesses become harder to locate. The sooner an attorney is involved and can preserve this evidence, the stronger the case that can be built on your behalf.