Investigators said an icy patch of Highway 175 that caused a deadly crash may have frozen because a sprinkler was left on in freezing temperatures.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Department said a sprinkler watering the grass in front of an Autozone along the highway was left running overnight, and water froze in the cold.
Pamela Godfrey, 44, was killed on Highway 175 near Malloy Bridge Road in Seagoville after she lost control of her car. Her 23-year-old daughter, Ashley Duren, and Duren's two children were also in the car, but survived.
Godfrey was not wearing a seatbelt. Investigators said the children were also not wearing seatbelts.
"It's sad, and it's right here at the holidays," said Ron Harness, a Seagoville building official.
Harness helped write an ordinance that requires businesses and residential properties to have a rain-freeze sensor on their sprinklers. The sensor shuts the watering system off in freezing weather.
The measure passed last month. Harness said AutoZone was not in violation of it because businesses still have time to get the sensor.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"We have a Dec. 31 deadline, and not everyone is aware because the ordinance just passed in November," he said.
But Harness also said Autozone should have known better than to have sprinklers running in cold weather.
"Just use a little bit of common sense and turn their stuff off when it's freezing or raining, and an instance like this might have been prevented," he said.
After Dec. 31, businesses or residents running water during rain or freezing weather can face a $2,000 per day fine.
A spokesman for AutoZone said the company is working with investigators.
Harness said the city shut off the water running to AutoZone's sprinkler, a measure it can take in emergency situations.
