THE DRIVER OF this pickup was killed Wednesday morning at Blue after a tire blew out and the truck overturned. Six area residents have been killed in crashes since Monday afternoon.
Terry Lynn Curtis, 50, Bennington, was killed Wednesday after his pickup had a blow out and overturned, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Curtis was traveling eastbound at 9:22 a.m. on Highway 70 in Blue when the right, rear tire of his Nissan pickup blew out. The pickup then hit a concrete embankment and rolled one-quarter time, coming to rest on the driver’s side, according to the patrol. An examiner with the State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Curtis was dead at the scene from multiple injuries.
Curtis was not wearing a seat belt, according to Trooper BJ Keeling’s report, and an unsafe tire was cited as the cause of the accident.
It was raining at the time of the crash.
Since early Monday afternoon, six county residents have been killed in automobile accidents.
Three Durant residents were killed in a collision Monday near Kingston. According to the patrol, Erin E. Hudson, 31, failed to yield at a stop sign and her car was hit by a tractor-trailer rig.
Hudson and two passengers, Paul J. Hudson, 2, and Jason Eugene Madding, 33, died at the scene.
Tuesday morning, a single-vehicle crash claimed the lives of a father and son from Durant. Troopers said Jackey J. Ross Jr., 50, was driving on Highway 70E southeast of Durant when he lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree. Ross and his son, Jackey J. Ross III, 25, were killed in the accident.
Later that afternoon, Geonna Thompson, 27, Bokchito, was seriously injured after crashing her car on Highway 70E, in the same area as the fatal crash. Thompson was taken to Texoma Medical Center, Denison, Texas, to be treated for leg and internal injuries.
Trooper Steve Nabors, a former Bryan County Trooper who is now a law enforcement liaison for the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, said in an e-mail that as he recalled, there were seven people killed during a 24-hour period in Bryan County approximately 10 years ago.
“We actually have been dropping in numbers of fatalities the last 2-3 years,” Nabors said. “Its just when multiple are killed it gets more noticed.”
According to OHP, fatalities are down statewide this year, compared to the year before with 619 fatalities through Nov. 29. There were 675 traffic deaths during the same time frame in 2008.
Troopers credit promoting highway safety and enforcement of traffic laws, including seat belt usage, as factors in the decline. During the past two years, five troopers, including Nabors, have been law enforcement liaisons throughout the state. According to the patrol, these troopers spend 40 hours a week working with local law enforcement agencies and the public in promoting traffic safety.
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