Sheriff: ‘Miraculously,’ no one hurt in crash south of Madras that totaled car, pickup
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 16-year-old licensed driver with three passengers failed to stop and yield to oncoming traffic on Highway 26 south of Madras late Friday afternoon, resulting in a collision with a pickup truck. “Miraculously, no one was injured, but both vehicles were totaled,” Jefferson County Sheriff Marc Heckathorn said.
Sheriff’s deputies were called shortly before 5 p.m. to investigate the crash at the intersection of Highway 26 East (the Prineville Highway) and Dover Lane, the sheriff said.
The pickup driver told deputies he tried to brake hard and swerve to avoid the crash, but they collided, sending the car into the ditch and the truck off the road shoulder, Heckathorn said.
“All occupants were wearing their safety belts,” he said in a Facebook posting, “and the vehicles did their job keeping everyone safe.”
The sheriff’s office was assisted at the crash scene by ODOT, Jefferson County Fire and Jefferson County EMS, Heckathorn said. Both vehicles were towed by Gray’s Towing of Madras.
Sad to see a nice pick up ruined by care lessens.
– the love of stuff is a sure sign of the soulless
Agreed. I never caused a wreck in high school but there were certainly times I should have. I think back on a few incidents that still make me nervous. Outcomes could’ve been much different. My care lessons were low cost. Not everybody gets off cheap but we all get lessons. It’s part of being 16 and 16 is part of life.
That’s a miracle
From the looks of it, the miracle of a well-engineered crumple zone on that car.
It was the quick thinking of the experienced driver of the truck that kept this from being a whole lot worse. Kudos to him!
In my opinion, which no-one cares about, I think if a 16 year old licensed driver who causes this type of carnage, they should lose their license for three years, automatically. Obviously, they are not ready for the privilege, or the responsibility of operating a two thousand pound piece of machinery!
Kind of hard to tell what actually happened. Failed to stop and yield implies he ran a stop sign. But, the damage to the two vehicles looks more like a head-on crash. I do agree with you that, if he ran a stop sign, or did something equally reckless, and caused this crash, that license suspension is in order. Not just for him, but for anyone who did a similar thing. That said, I caused a head-on crash years ago when I hit black ice on Hwy 97, did a 360 and hit an oncoming car. No injuries; we were both going about 20 mph by the time we hit.
So glad to hear that only replaceable material was harmed.
Seeing how the youths of today act can be scary and that’s when they’re not behind the wheel of a two ton vehicle.
Youths have been acting like this for generations. This isn’t new.
I don’t know the ages of the teen’s passengers but when you are under 18, during the first 12 months after getting a license, Oregon law says you cannot drive other teens unless accompanied by a parent or guardian or licensed driver 25 or older. If the driver had only teen passengers, his/her license may be suspended. Looking at the car it’s s miracle they all survived.
Do they still enforce the probationary period for 16 year olds or do we ignore it like all the other rules and regulations?
I see what should be a huge wake up call.