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LAKEWAY, Texas (KXAN) — Roads were slick on May 13, 2024. Gabriel May left his family-owned auto shop – Vineyard Bay Automotive – sometime around noon.
“There was a dump truck…” his wife Kristy said. Her sentence was cut off by her tears.
That dump truck ultimately struck the front of May’s F-150 as the two passed each other, driving opposite directions, on Flint Rock Road. May died as a result.
“My husband. A father of five. He had two grandchildren. He died from blunt force trauma to the head,” Kristy said, once again through tears.
“And the person who did it is getting a Class C misdemeanor traffic ticket. It’s really upsetting, it really makes me feel like my husband’s life didn’t have any value.”
Kristy May, Gabriel’s wife, on the current status of of the case
The Lakeway Police Department (LPD) confirmed the driver did receive a citation for “Unsafe Speed/Too Fast for Conditions.” A spokesperson for the city also said the police department is “still determining if additional charges are warranted, so the case remains open at this time.”
If police do decide charges are warranted, additional prosecution would be under further discretion from entities within the criminal justice system.
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Gabriel May’s family walks through photos of the father of five and images from the crash scene. (KXAN News/Brianna Hollis) -
Gabriel May’s family walks through photos of the father of five and images from the crash scene. (KXAN News/Brianna Hollis) -
Kristy May said signs like this have gone up on Flint Rock Road since her husband’s death. (KXAN News/Brianna Hollis) -
A stretch of Flint Rock Road. -
Gabriel May was killed in a crash on Flint Rock Road in Lakeway in 2023. (KXAN News/Brianna Hollis)
“If you’re speeding on a wet road driving a giant dump truck, you know that that’s not safe, and to do it anyway, even if you had no ill-will, no ill-intent, you took my husband’s life, and his life mattered,” Kristy said.
May’s son Jonathan said he was “everyone’s instant best friend.”
Kristy said that was apparent not only throughout his life but at his memorial service.
“Everyone at the memorial was coming up like ‘Gabe was my best friend,’ ‘well Gabe was MY best friend,'” she said.
Lakeway City Council discusses safety on road where May was killed
On Monday, the Lakeway City Council discussed an item that would ban thru truck traffic on Flint Rock Road.
Kristy also spoke in support of that measure. Police Chief Glen Koen also supports it. He was the one who read the proposal during the meeting and answered questions from council members.
“I don’t want this to happen to another family,” she said.
Some exceptions to truck traffic, according to the proposal, would be for heavy trucks delivering or picking up along the road, and heavy trucks needed for permitted city construction.
The City will hold a final vote at a later date to decide whether to pass the “no-truck” motion through.
