Driver badly hurt in Hwy. 26 crash near Mt. Hood

Four people were injured, one critically, Saturday afternoon when a Portland man’s car slid into the oncoming lanes of snowy Highway 26 near Mt. Hood and collided head-on with a Madras man’s pickup, Oregon State Police reported.

The crash occurred around 3:25 p.m. on the highway near Frog Lake, east of Government Camp, said OSP trooper Scott Kinch.

Kinch said a 1998 Subaru four-door driven by Vladimir Voloshchuck, 64, of southeast Portland was heading west on the highway, negotiating a left-hand curve on the snow-covered highway when it went onto the shoulder.

At that point, he said, Voloshchuck lost control and the Subaru slid across the highway, toward the eastbound lanes.

The driver of a 2004 Chevy pickup, Bradley Hutchins, 27, of Madras, saw the out-of-control car coming toward his lanes, so he slowed to 5-10 mph and moved to the right eastbound lane, where the vehicles collided head-on, Kinch said.

Voloshchuck was taken by AMR ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, where he was reported in critical condition Sunday, the trooper said. Right-front passenger Vasyl Voloshchuck, 57, also of southeast Portland, was taken by ambulance to the Portland hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hutchins and his passenger, a 25-year-old woman, had minor injuries and were not transported for treatment, Kinch said, adding that all four occupants were wearing seat belts and the pickup’s airbags deployed.

One eastbound lane was closed for 90 minutes after the crash. OSP was assisted at the scene by the Hoodland Fire Department and ODOT.