News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Two drivers escaped serious injury in separate wrecks on a quarter-mile stretch of Highway 20 east of Sisters on Monday, August 20.
The first accident occurred on Monday morning. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, Kelly Clyde Johnson, 16, lost control of his Volkswagen Jetta when he attempted to pass two cars in front of him headed eastbound.
Johnson was reportedly third in a line of eastbound cars. The second car passed the one in front of him. Johnson then attempted to pass both cars. Witnesses reported that the second car sped up and would not let Johnson past.
According to a sheriff's deputy, Johnson saw oncoming traffic and tried to turn back into his lane but oversteered and lost control.
The Jetta rolled across the highway and left the pavement, tumbling well off the roadway and landing on its roof.
Johnson crawled from the wreckage, relatively unscathed. According to sheriff's office reports, the youth had a nasty contusion on his arm and some other cuts and scrapes.
The Sisters High School student has had his license for two months, a deputy reported. He was cited for unsafe passing. The driver of the second car, which would not let Johnson pass, continued on away from the scene.
In the second accident, on Monday afternoon, Angelisa Johnson, 31, of Bend left the westbound roadway in her small convertible sports car and clipped a roadside power pole.
A witness reported that the woman told him she had glanced down as her young son rummaged in the car for his sunglasses. When she looked up, she was in the gravel.
The vehicle scraped against the power pole and spun out, coming to rest on the shoulder facing east - still on its wheels.
A deputy noted that the driver was fortunate not to have rolled on the soft top or to have hit the power pole dead center.
The woman appeared to have only minor injuries and her little boy appeared uninjured.
She was cited for failing to maintain her lane.
Personnel on the scene of each wreck noted that the outcomes could have been much worse.
"We were lucky today," said a deputy.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)