The Texas Department of Public Safety said a pickup truck was crossing a restricted area when it struck a Toyota Corolla head-on and killed all three passengers in a crash that occurred on Texas State Highway 46 near the border between Kendall and Bandera counties.

The accident happened on Monday. The three passengers in the Corolla were a married couple, Roger Waid, 50, Patricia Wade, 53, and one of their daughters, Blake Waid, 14, who were pronounced dead on the spot.

The driver of the truck was taken to a local hospital, it is not known if he will be charged,

The portion of State Highway 46 where the accident occurred has one lane in each direction and is not part of the widening project that is underway. People in the area say that the highway section also needs to be expanded because the area is growing rapidly.

“There are all kinds of safety issues, it’s a death trap. You can’t go around if you have slower vehicles,” said motorcyclist Julia Ruiz.

Ruiz said the stretch of State Highway 46 between I-10 and State Highway 16 is dangerous for anyone using the road, but especially scary if you’re riding a motorcycle, and the road upgrade is long overdue.

A big part of the problem is that the area has quickly outgrown the stretch of two-lane highway, according to Donald Wick, who has lived there for more than three decades.

“You’d probably see two cars on 46 all the way to Boerne. Now, it’s 150, one way, so the traffic just got atrocious,” Wick said.

With all the extra cars on that road, Tyler Bivens said drivers aren’t taking enough precautions.

“People shouldn’t cross that road, it’s too windy. There are a lot of accidents out there, too many accidents because people are passing too much,” Bivens said.

The Texas Department of Transportation oversees the maintenance of State Highway 46, and public information officer Tanya Brown said the department is aware of the need for upgrades, some of which are already underway.

“New construction with 46 minutes between Bentwood and Old Boerne Road. This project will expand that road to six lanes in some areas with raised medians, sidewalks and then also bike combinations,” Brown said.

Brown says TXDOT has already begun the feasibility study, which is the first step in the process of identifying how the freeway needs to be upgraded between I-10 and State Highway 16, where the fatal crash occurred.

“Challenging terrain, so we’re looking at them, we’ve identified, as I said, we have some improvements that need to be made there, but we’re in that feasibility study and we’re looking at what we can do with what we have.” Brown said.

Once the study is finished, TXDOT will seek public input before the planning stages. There is no clear timeline for the project at this time, but Brown said accidents and traffic will be part of the study and will play a role in how soon the project begins.