Texas radio legend John Labella has been killed in a freak accident where a forklift being transported on the back of a truck clipped the underside of a bridge, sending its boom assembly flying across six lanes of traffic and into his car.

Dallas Police said the forklift snagged the underside of the Fort Worth Avenue bridge. The impact tore away the forklift's boom assembly, parts of which crashed into Labella's car, killing him instantly.

The truck driver, Linden Berry, faces Texas Department of Public Safety charges for carrying a forklift too high and failing to have a permit to carry loads higher than 14 feet.

Mr Labella, a radio veteran of more than 20 years, was the morning announcer for "Memories 96.7", but was best known for a show he co-hosted on a station called "The Zoo" in the 1970s and 1980s, said the Fort Worth Star Telegram.