A 91-year old woman was killed after the vehicle she was driving crossed the center stripe and struck an oncoming car on FM 418 west of Silsbee on Tuesday. - Photo by Daniel Elizondo

A driver is dead and another is critically injured after a head-on collision on FM 418 less than a mile west of Silsbee on Tuesday before noon.

The accident occurred around 11 a.m. west of Lee Miller Road during slick conditions.

A 91-year old woman, Katherine Leona Barker, was traveling east on FM 418 in a 2011 Mercedes when she lost control and veered into the westbound lanes of the divided highway.

According to DPS Trooper Steve Holloway, witnesses told law enforcement personel that it appeared she was driving erradically and then slumped over in the front seat.

The Mercedes struck a 2002 Saturn head-on driven by a 24-year old Linda Renia Burns of Saratoga.

Burns was extracted from the vehicle by Silsbee Fire Rescue using Jaws of Life and both were transported to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont where Barker was pronounced dead. Burns was airlifted by Med-Trans where she remains in critical condition with internal injuries.

According to Holloway, preliminary indications may point to a medical condition suffered by Barker, causing her to possibly lose consciousness and veer into oncoming traffic. Holloway ruled out the slick conditions being a factor in the accident.

There was no word on Barker’s cause of death.

Witnesses say the Barker had just left her home not far from the accident.