Dani Hancock Porter Arizona mom crashes while driving along freeway while her 3 kids were playing aggressively in the backseat only for ‘distracted’ parent to crash into a tow-truck that led to the deaths of her two children, Tate and Evie Porter.
Define tragedy? A mother’s attempt to break up her kids ‘rough-shedding’ in the backseat while driving along an Arizona freeway led to her inadvertently crashing and the deaths of her two children.
Dani Hancock Porter, 36, was driving a pickup truck with her 3 kids down the East Valley freeway, Wednesday morning, when the ‘distracted’ mom momentarily lost her focus and being involved in a four vehicle crash.
Killed was 9 year old boy, Tate Porter and his 11 year old sister, Evie Porter according to social media.
Arizona family who lost 2 kids over distracted driving mom speak out
Momentary distraction on the road leads to life altering consequences
To date Arizona officials declined to publicly identify the mother along with the victims.
Surviving the crash was the mother and a third sibling,a 6 year old boy, WSAZ reported. Both were hospitalised.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the collision happened around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday in the westbound lanes of the Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near McKellips Road.
DPS spokesperson Bart Graves said the mother and her three kids were in a pickup truck when they slammed into a flatbed tow truck on the shoulder of the freeway at a significant rate of speed.
‘The force of the impact was such that it not only sheared off the right side of the pickup truck where they were riding but they were killed instantly by the impact,’ Graves said. ‘They didn’t have a chance, and it’s very sad.’
The tow truck driver was uninjured in the crash.
Arizona mom wont face criminal charges
‘She may have been distracted by what was going on in the vehicle at the time of the crash,’ Graves said. ‘As I understand it, it was kids playing loudly, roughhousing in the backseat, or some kind of thing that distracted her from the road.’
Graves said troopers don’t believe she was impaired at the time of the crash.
‘Slow down, pay attention. Do not get distracted by things in your car if you have kids,’ Graves said. ‘Stay off the phone. By all means, do not drive impaired or fatigued either.’
The crash shut down the freeway’s westbound lanes for about six hours.
Authorities said the mother is not currently facing criminal charges; however, she could be charged with misdemeanor distracted driving.
A GoFundMe set up to help the family as of Thursday early evening had raised over $127K.
Read the fundraiser: ‘Tate and Evie, age 9 and 11, were tragically killed on the 202 freeway in Arizona today, October 23, 2024, in a car accident. Their parents and siblings are now not only having to face life without two of their children, but a mound of medical and funeral bills just years after one of their children went through a long course of cancer treatment.’
