Two injured in La Pine Hwy. 97 head-on crash
(Update: Adding video, initial details on crash)
Two people were injured in the crash of an SUV and box truck on Highway 97 in La Pine Friday morning, caused when the SUV driver apparently fell asleep, Oregon State Police reported.
Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, Oregon State Police, ODOT and La Pine and Sunriver fire medics responded to the crash shortly before 9 a.m. on Highway 97 at milepost 167 near Burgess Road, county 911 dispatchers reported.
OSP Senior Trooper Jason Hansen said the driver of a northbound Jeep SUV admitted falling asleep at the wheel of the rental car as he traveled north from California.
The SUV crossed into the southbound lanes, where a box truck’s driver tried to avoid the Jeep by swerving right, but they side-swiped and collided, causing the truck to overturn. The Jeep came to rest off the west side of the highway, Hansen said.
A passenger in the Jeep suffered possible fractured ribs and the driver had cuts to his face but was quickly out of the vehicle, the troopers added.
The crash shut the highway for a bit, but ODOT used the two northbound lanes for traffic in both directions. The road was reopened fully later in the morning, after a tow truck removed the truck.
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