County employee dies in T-bone wreck

by Alexandria Randolph

Burnet County employee Ben (“Benny”) Weems died Monday afternoon, March 7, as the result of a major collision between two large vehicles on US281 about 2.5 miles north of Marble Falls.

Weems, who worked for Burnet County Precinct 1, was driving a county-owned dump truck when it collided with an 18-wheeler hauling gravel at 12:16 p.m. about a half-mile north of the railroad crossing in the 7800 block of US281.

Texas Department of Pubic Safety (DPS) troopers working the scene said the dump truck was traveling northbound on US 281 in the outside lane when an 18-wheeler loaded down with a haul of gravel attempted to make a left turn into the southbound lanes of the highway from the entrance of Lhoist North America, a rock quarry.

Troopers reported the driver of the big rig, who was uninjured in the incident, said he saw the dump truck display a right turn signal as if it intended to turn into the quarry, so he turned out in front of the truck.

“He said that the next thing he knew, the dump truck was underneath him,” said DPS Trooper Andrew Thomas.

The dump truck struck the cargo bed of the 18-wheeler and lodged against the big rig's undercarriage. Weems was ejected by the impact and was discovered by first responders already deceased on the exterior of his truck.

He was later pronounced dead at the scene at 12:59 p.m. by Burnet County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Peggy Simon.