FREMONT COUNTY, Wyo. – It’s been a tragic week here. Six people have been killed in crashes in the past six days in Fremont County, three of those in head-on collisions and two in single-vehicle rollovers. Killed were 30-year-old Joshua Espinosa, 25-year-old Nicholas Brady, and 18-year-old Dalton Growcock, all of Lander, 68-year-old Mary Oldman, and 34-year-old Juan Herrera, both of Fort Washakie, and 72-year-old Keith Skinner of Riverton. All died of trauma, said county Coroner Ed McAuslan, and weather was not a factor in any of the incidents.
The lone surviver of the crashes was the only one riding in a vehicle wearing a seatbelt. He’s 22-year-old Matthew Jimenez of Lander who was flown Tuesday to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper with life-threatening injuries. His condition is unknown, protected under rights-of-privacy laws.
Officials have not released details of the Oldman crash, which happened Tuesday afternoon around 12:15 on Ethete Road near Fort Washakie Elementary School. Further information is not expected because it’s under investigation by the Wind River Police Department, an agency that refuses to release details during on-going investigations. The coroner’s office did say that Oldman died at the Casper medical center.
In a follow-up to yesterday’s news, officials have not yet determined why Espinosa and Jimenez whose trucks crashed head-on Tuesday morning on Wyoming Highway 789, were in the center of the roadway.
Herrera died at the scene of the crash, which occurred around 7:15, about four miles north of Lander. He was a passenger in Jimenez’s truck. Espinosa died a couple hours later at the Wyoming Medical Center. State patrol officials said Espinosa was driving a Ford F350 pickup and Jimenez a Ford F250 when the two collided.
Jimenez’s truck caught fire upon impact, according to the patrol report, and was put out by a responding firefighter. Jimenez was extricated then transported to the hospital.
The crash closed the highway for about three hours while troopers investigated the scene, gathered evidence and cleared the roadway of debris.
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July 2, 2009
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"Seatbelts were installed but not in use." "The victim was ejected and died at the scene." "The vehicle rolled several times before coming to rest on the driver who was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown out."
Those lines have been a part of more highway fatality stories than I care to remember and I have written a lot of them over the past 20-some years.
I've also heard a lot of STUPID excuses for not wearing seabelts, too. "They're uncomfortable." So is a 3-ton pickup on your skull. "I'm better off if I'm not in the vehicle while it's rolling over." That theory is proven wrong just about every day in Wyoming but there are those who stubbornly insist on believing it. "I don't want to be trapped in the wreck when it bursts into flames." That one is also widely cited as a reason not to wear seatbelts. However, vehicles rarely catch fire or blow up after an accident, except on television or in the movies. In reality, about every car or truck built in the last 20 or more years has a number of safety systems built in to prevent fires after crashes. They are also engineered to protect the passengers in rollover and headon crashes, the most common types of accidents. But the passengers have to stay IN the vehicle to receive it's protection. An that, obviously, means wearing seatbelts.
So please, buckle up. If not for yourself, then for those who love you.