Bee in truck’s cab triggers Hwy. 97 rollover crash

A bee flying in the window of his open cab was just the start of the trouble Saturday afternoon for an Oklahoma trucker rolling through Central Oregon on Highway 97. Before it was all over, his overturned rig was blocking the highway, he went to the hospital and he got a ticket — but he did escape serious injury, Oregon State Police said.

Mark Buckingham, 59, of Harra, Oklahoma, was heading north on the highway south of Madras just before 2:30 p.m., going about 60 mph when the unwanted intruder joined him in the cab, said OSP Senior Trooper Justin Lane. He was hauling a small load of juice in the 53-foot trailer that belongs to Covenant Transport.

Buckingham told OSP the bee landed on his neck – and when he tried to swat it off, he knocked his glasses off his face.

The driver then started looking for his glasses – and suddenly realized he was off the highway and onto the northbound shoulder, Lane said. Buckingham tried to get back onto the highway, but the trailer caused the rig to roll onto the passenger side, the trooper said.

Witnesses helped Buckingham, who was wearing his seat belt, get out of the truck, which blocked both lanes a half-mile north of Culver Highway for about an hour.

Buckingham was taken by ambulance to St. Charles Madras with minor injuries, Lane said. He also was cited for failure to drive within his lane.

OSP was assisted at the scene by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies, Jefferson County Fire medics and Ira’s Towing.