Published: June 24, 2008 08:16 am      

Two die on U.S. 180 when car, cycle collide head-on

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

A two-vehicle collision late Friday night became a two-person fatality, Texas Department of Public Safety officials reported.

The collision occurred at 11:20 p.m. on U.S. Highway 180 East, east of Saddle Club Road in Parker County, when a 1994 Mazda Miata drove eastbound in the westbound lane of traffic, DPS said.

The driver of the Miata, identified as Janet Barrett, 56, of The Colony, was reportedly driving eastbound in a westbound lane of traffic when the front left side of her car struck the motorcycle. The motorcyclist was identified as Robert O. Byrd, 56, of Weatherford. He was traveling in the inside lane when the wreck occurred, DPS officials reported.

Both Byrd and Barrett were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies were transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. The DPS report indicated that Byrd was not wearing a helmet and Barrett was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the collision.