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According to the Austin Police crash report, failed brakes was the reason for Friday's fiery crash involving a gravel truck on 2222. APD says the crash is still under investigation though so other factors may have played a part as well.
On Friday morning, Glen Bandel's wife was driving down Jester Blvd. in west Austin with the family's new dash cam attached to the front windshield.
At the top of the hill, she sees a red gravel truck on the side of the road. Minutes later while waiting at the red light at Jester and 2222, she encounters the red truck again...and the dash cam was rolling as the truck crashed.
When I got there she was already talking to the police and I said 'you know you have a dash cam' and she said 'Oh that's right!' and I mentioned it to the policemen and he said 'oh that could be amazing, this could really help us,'" Bandel said.
The video paints a shockingly detailed play by play of the incident -- the truck plowed over a silver sedan waiting at the light, clipped others along the way and then fell off the side of 2222 into the ditch below.
I think that's when it hit me and I was stunned, I was shocked, I thought she could have been so easily the first one hit, there was no one behind her," Bandel said.
Thankfully no one was killed. Four people were taken to the hospital with injuries, including the truck driver.
Some citizens jumped down there and helped extricate him out of the vehicle and get him away from it before it caught fire," said Corporal Chad Martinka on Friday.
The gravel truck is owned by Franco's Trucking. According to data from US DOT, the company has 20 safety violations on record: broken turn signals, exhaust leaks, operating without proof of inspection and more.
"Well it's putting all of us at risk. So of course...you know there's reasons for those inspections," Bandel said.
Bandel says they've lived in the area for 20 years and the hills can be dangerous.
"My wife was the manager of our Jester Club for kids and there was gravel that gets put in once a year and there's a limited number of comanies that we can find that will bring the gravel up here because of that steepness," Bandel said.
Many are wanting to know -- what is this system Bandel used that captured the detailed video? He says it's called a Cobra HD Dash Cam. He's putting one in his other vehicle now because a visual record is important.
"Even just the eye-witnesses, my wife included, who said 'no there was nobody on the right side when the truck came through.' In an adrenaline situation we don't do well visualizing and remembering things, our brains aren't as good as we think they are," Bandel said.
We reached out to Franco's Trucking and have not heard back as of news time this evening.