Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers are continuing the investigation into Monday night's serious injury crossover crash on Interstate 5 about five miles north of Eugene. Four members of an Abbottsford, British Columbia family were injured in the crash.
According to OSP Sergeant Chris Ashenfelter, on April 5, 2010 at approximately 10:00 p.m. a large rental-style truck operated by ALLISON BURTON, age 73, from California, was southbound on Interstate 5 near milepost 202 when it traveled through the grass center median and collided with a northbound pickup pulling a ski boat.
BURTON and his two male passengers did not appear to be injured.
The pickup's driver, DANIEL KYLE, age 37, his wife, TAMMY, and their two minor age children were all transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. TAMMY KYLE was trapped and extricated by fire personnel before she was taken by LifeFlight to the hospital. Their injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.
OSP troopers from the Springfield Area Command office are continuing the investigation into the cause of the crash. Safety restraint use information is not available.
Assistance was provided by ODOT, Springfield Fire and Life Safety, Coburg Fire Department, Coburg Police Department, Harrisburg Fire Department, and Life Flight.
Information from Oregon State Police
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Coburg (KMTR) Northbound lanes of Interstate 5 were closed just north of Coburg for several hours Monday night while state troopers investigated a crash between a truck and a pickup.
Oregon State Police say they don’t yet know why a Budget rental truck crossed the median and slammed into an oncoming pick-up truck that was towing a boat.
There were three people in the box truck and five in the pickup, including children. All were taken to hospitals. Police say the children should be all right, but some adults had more serious injuries. An air ambulance had to land on the highway and wait for a trapped passenger in the pick up to be freed.
Meantime, there was concern this crash scene could trigger other collisions.
“One of our concerns is the traffic on the freeway. You have the possibility of additional fender benders from people not expecting that [the accident scene], so we try to get the highway opened up as soon as possible,” said OSP Sergeant Chris Ashenfelter.
