The most notorious highway intersection in the Rockdale area claimed two more lives Monday afternoon.
A Rockdale couple, James and Diane Heckman, were pronounced dead at the scene—the intersection of US 77 and FM 908—by Justice of the Peace Gary Northcott after their sport utility vehicle was in collision with a pickup towing a trailer.
James Heckman’s age was listed as 74 and Diane Heckman’s as 70.
State Trooper Jacob Luna said James Heckman was the driver of the Mazda SUV which approached the intersection from the southeast on FM 908.
Luna said the Mazda failed to yield to a southbound GMC Sierra pickup on US 77, driven by Justin Rodgers of Frankston. The pickup collided with the Heckman vehicle.
According to the DPS, the GMC rolled and both vehicles came to rest alongside the highway.
He said the pickup was hauling a trailer with a skidsteer, a small loader.
Neither Rodgers nor his passenger, 28-year-old Felipe Lemus of Ben Wheeler, were injured, according to the trooper.
Luna said James Heckman was wearing a seat belt while Diane Heckman was not.
According to the DPS, the Mazda was totaled, while the pickup sustained extensive damage.
The trailer sustained moderate damage, according to the trooper.
The two deaths were the seventh and eighth on Milam County roads in 2020, five more than have died from the COVID-19 virus.
Rockdale Volunteer Fire Department, Milam County Sheriff’s Department and an AMR ambulance crew also responded to the accident Monday.
DEATH CORNER-The fatalities are the latest in a long string of deaths at the intersection, which acquired its name after becoming the site of the worst traffic accident in Milam County history 52 years ago.
On Sept. 29, 1968, a Ford sedan collided with a Volkswagen at the intersection. Five of the six persons in the Volkswagen and two of the three persons in the Ford died.
Those seven fatalities are the most ever in a single highway crash in Milam County history. There have been two six-fatality accidents in the county, neither at FM 908-US 77.
Collisions at the intersection led to the installation of a blinking, red/yellow, caution light in the 1980s.
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