Three people injured in Highway 58 crash

Three people were taken to hospitals with serious injuries after a nearly head-on crash on Highway 58 in Klamath County Saturday afternoon, Oregon State Police said.

OSP investigators believe speed and weather/road conditions may have been factors in the crash, reported shortly after 1 p.m. near milepost 68, said OSP Lt. Steve Mitchell.

A preliminary investigation indicated a Ford Taurus driven by Sharron Stephens, 66, of Albany, was heading east on the highway and the driver was negotiating a right-hand curve when she lost control and her car crossed into the oncoming lane.

Stephens’ car collided nearly head-on with a westbound Hyundai minivan driven by Tammy Mischke, 37, of La Pine, Mitchell said.

Stephens was taken by ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, where a nursing supervisor said she was in fair condition late Saturday afternoon.

Mischke and her son, Hudson McDavid, 2, were taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend, also with serious injuries, according to Mitchell; a condition report was not immediately available.

All three occupants of the two vehicles were wearing proper restraints, Mitchell said. OSP was assisted at the scene by local emergency responders and ODOT.

It was one of two crashes on Highway 58 west of the Highway 97 junction around the same time, on a day when a powerful storm was sweeping into the area. The other, a non-injury crash at milepost 82, involved a jackknifed semi-truck and passenger car, Mitchell said.

There also were reported of a crash on the Culver Highway in Jefferson County shortly before 4 p.m. Initial details were limited, but a Life Flight helicopter landed at Culver High School, apparently to pick up a patient from the crash.