Driver, 77, swerves to avoid deer, survives Hwy. 26 crash

A 77-year-old Fossil woman was injured Wednesday morning when she swerved to avoid a deer and went off Highway 26 about 20 miles east of Prineville.

But she was released Wednesday afternoon from St. Charles Prineville, and Crook County sheriff’s deputies said she likely would have had more severe injuries had she not been wearing her seat belt.

Deputies and medics were dispatched around 7 a.m. to the reported crash on Highway 26 East (the Ochoco Highway) at milepost 43, Sgt. Chris Estes said.

Deputies arrived to find several citizens had stopped to help and provide medical care to the driver, identified as Anna Cook, who was injured but alert and conscious.

Cook was driving a 2011 Chrysler 300 sedan when she swerved to miss a deer and drove off the road at highway speeds, Estes said.

The car dropped about 10 feet from the elevated highway and “made a significant impact in the ditch,” Estes said in a news release. “Her car rolled partially over and spun around 180 degrees before coming to a rest.”

Crook County Fire & Rescue arrived and took Cook by ambulance to St. Charles Prineville, where a house supervisor said she was being released after treatment Wednesday afternoon.

Cook was wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash and the car’s air bags deployed.

“It was evident by the damage to the car that her injuries would likely have been severe had she not been wearing her seat belt,” Estes said, adding that there was no evidence that speed or intoxicants were contributing factors..

The sheriff’s office was assisted on scene by Oregon State Police, ODOT and S.T.A.R. Towing of Prineville.