Surprising rise in semi-truck rollovers seen on Highway 97 curve in Redmond

Tow driver advises drivers to exercise caution as winter approaches

(Update: Adding video, comments from Consolidated Towing Inc. heavy duty supervisor, Robert Lee)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- With slick, icy roads and more cars on the road, the heavy duty supervisor for Consolidated Towing Inc. said he expects to be a lot busier towing vehicles.

What Robert Lee did not expect in his nine years of towing, though, is the recent rise in semi-truck rollovers on one stretch of highway in Redmond.

What's surprising, Lee said, is the number of semi-trucks that have rolled over or crashed on a curve on northbound Highway 97 near milepost 119. He said he knows of five semi-trucks that have crashed there just within the last month, and two only days apart.

On Dec. 1, a semi- truck carrying cartons of oranges rolled over. Three days later, another semi with an empty trailer rolled in the exact same spot.

Earlier in the year, Lee said, a steel truck full of metal also rolled on the curve before getting T-boned by a dump truck.

“We used to have about four to five major semi-crashes a year, but this year has been very high," Lee said Wednesday. "We’re averaging maybe about one a month, maybe even more."

Oregon State Police said in a Nov. 30 crash, a produce truck heading north "failed to maintain its lane, crossing into the soft gravel shoulder on a curved portion of the roadway" and tipping onto its right side The driver was not injured.

Although the curved stretch of highway isn't a sharp corner, it's becoming a trouble spot.

“I know a few of them kind of hugged that corner a little wide, and that’s what caused them to flip," Lee said. "But the grade seems okay, the turn is alright. I couldn’t put my finger on why that’s kind of a hot-spot for semis."

Lee added that this could be happening for a number of reasons, such as distracted driving, or speeding.

The nearby offramp could be another reason.

“Maybe cars might be trying to cut off on that offramp, passing the semi, and then maybe trying to get off on that exit and creating more of an issue," Lee suggested.

With consolidated towing averaging about 300 calls a day, Lee said it’s important for all drivers to drive slower in snow conditions, which will help everybody out.

“The mentality is, ‘I've got to take that (exit),' instead of before, where it used to be like, ‘Oh, there it is, I missed it, I'll go get turned around.’”

The latest, 2019 update from the Oregon Department of Transportation reports a total of 12 vehicle crashes along the two-mile stretch between milepost 118 and milepost 120.