OSP: 11 killed in crashes in past three days
(Update: 11 fatalities in Oregon crashes in 3 days)
A 62-year-old southern Oregon man was killed and three passengers were injured late Sunday afternoon when his car left U.S. Highway 20 west of Santiam Junction and struck a tree head-on, Oregon State Police said Monday. He was one of 11 people killed in Oregon highway crashes in just the past three days.
OSP troopers and emergency personnel responded shortly before 5 p.m. to the single-vehicle crash near milepost 73 in Linn County, Capt. Tim Fox said.
A preliminary investigation found that Dwight Worthington Jr., 62, of Wolf Creek was heading west on the highway, driving a white 1997 Chrysler Concord, when he drifted off the highway for unknown reasons and hit the tree, Fox said.
Worthington Jr. suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene, he said.
Three passengers in the car — Stephen Brown, 59, of Redmond, Dwight Worthington III, 34, of Wolf Creek, and a 10-year-old Wolf Creek boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend, Fox said.
Fox said OSP responded to investigate 11 deaths from motor vehicle crashes over the last three days. “Troopers are very concerned with the dramatic increase in fatal crashes,” he said.
