Seat Belts

Alaska State Troopers responded to a fatal motor vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer rig and a truck late Monday night. David Roach, 60, of Trapper Creek, was killed on impact during the crash. Shortly before midnight, troopers received report of a motor vehicle crash near mile 104 of the Parks Highway. Investigation showed that the vehicles collided head-on. "David Roach had been traveling north bound on the Parks Highway in his Toyota pickup when he crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic," wrote troopers in a dispatch report.

The Anchorage Police Department is joining the nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign to emphasize enforcement of seat-belt laws over the Memorial Day weekend -- especially at night. According to APD spokesperson Marlene Lammers, until June 5 the department will be issuing Anchorage motorists tickets rather than warnings for not wearing seat belts. Eleven APD officers will be working additional overtime over the weekend as part of the campaign. Statistics showing that fewer people wear seat belts at night have shifted the campaign’s focus to nighttime enforcement.

One woman was killed in a vehicle accident in Dillingham early Sunday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers. Jillian Burton, 26, was a passenger in a 1998 Ford Expedition. She and driver Chelsea Clark, 21, were ejected from the vehicle after taking a left-turning curve on Aleknagik Lake Road at about 4:30 a.m. Neither of them was wearing a seat belt. Clark was medically transported to Anchorage with serious injuries and Burton was pronounced dead on scene. Two passengers in the back seat of the vehicle were treated for minor injuries at the hospital and then released.

Thanksgiving comes around every third Thursday in November and the Alaska State Troopers are prepping to bust DUI drivers. Alaska State Troopers will be conducting extra traffic stops on the lookout for drunk drivers, speeders, aggressive drivers, and people not wearing their seat belts. This is part of troopers anti-DUI campaign that is focused on reducing the number of major-injury or fatal collisions. During Halloween enforcement , troopers issued more than 400 citations without responding to a single fatal crash.

Alaska State Troopers said a Wasilla driver succumbed to his injuries in a single vehicle rollover that happened in January. 61-year-old Walter Marion Davis died over a month after the Jan. 3rd crash that happened near mile 17.5 on the Knik Goose Bay Road. Troopers said Davis drove off the highway when he was traveling with 49-year-old Lloyd Ray Russell and rolled the vehicle one time, ejecting Russell in the crash, as Davis remained in the vehicle. Both were taken to a local hospital and Russell was later treated and released.

by The Associated Press Thursday, February 4, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A 43-year-old Girdwood man has died, nearly a week after being involved in an accident on the Seward Highway. Alaska State Troopers say Paul C. Wiersema died late Wednesday at an Anchorage hospital. He was involved in a collision Jan. 29 with a trailer pulled by another vehicle that served into his lane. Troopers say the other driver lost control of his trailer, which held a full-sized pickup.

A passenger died late Tuesday night on the Steese Highway when the pickup truck he was riding in rolled several times then landed in a ditch, according to Alaska State Troopers. Officials say John N. Hendrickson, 28, was driving his 2004 Ford F150 near Mile 128.9 of the highway just before 11:45 p.m. when he lost control of the vehicle and it crashed. Jedediah Hendrickson, 24, was ejected during the rollover and found dead nearby, while John Hendrickson was found walking disorientated down the highway.

A Wasilla couple was seriously hurt, and taken to the hospital, after the motorcycle they were riding on was hit late Sunday morning on the Parks Hwy. Troopers say 65-year-old Alfred Letendre, and his 62-year-old wife Louise were riding north on the Parks Hwy. at about 10:45 a.m., when 69-year-old Allen Hassen struck the couple in his 2000 Buick. Hassen, also from Wasilla, reportedly crossed the southbound lane's center line, after 22-year-old Hershey Haney, from Palmer, hit Hassen's car while Troopers say he was stopped, waiting to make a left turn onto Stanley Rd. Haney was cited for failure to exercise due care.

Alaska State Troopers say three people were injured, one of them seriously, after a single-vehicle rollover crash Sunday in Talkeetna. Troopers responded at about 7:19 a.m. to the scene on Beaver Road, where a 1988 Volvo sedan had left the roadway and impacted a ditch before rolling onto its roof and striking a tree. Talkeetna resident Storm Newgren, 18, was flown to Anchorage with serious injuries, while 23-year-old Richard Holt of Anchorage and 18-year-old Sarah Ellsworth of Talkeetna were taken to the hospital.

Two Big Lake residents were ejected from a sport-utility vehicle on the Parks Highway and suffered severe injuries when it skidded into a ditch Tuesday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers. Troopers say the SUV, driven by 20-year-old Holly Sturgeon, was headed south near Mile 49.5 of the Parks just after 1 p.m. when Sturgeon lost control in heavy snow. “The SUV skidded off the roadway and impacted with the snow piled in the ditch,” troopers wrote in a Wednesday dispatch on the crash.

Alaska State Troopers responded to a fatal motor vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer rig and a truck late Monday night. David Roach, 60, of Trapper Creek, was killed on impact during the crash. Shortly before midnight, troopers received report of a motor vehicle crash near mile 104 of the Parks Highway. Investigation showed that the vehicles collided head-on. "David Roach had been traveling north bound on the Parks Highway in his Toyota pickup when he crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic," wrote troopers in a dispatch report.

Thanksgiving comes around every third Thursday in November and the Alaska State Troopers are prepping to bust DUI drivers. Alaska State Troopers will be conducting extra traffic stops on the lookout for drunk drivers, speeders, aggressive drivers, and people not wearing their seat belts. This is part of troopers anti-DUI campaign that is focused on reducing the number of major-injury or fatal collisions. During Halloween enforcement , troopers issued more than 400 citations without responding to a single fatal crash.

A Houston woman severely injured in a head-on collision on the Parks Highway last week died of her injuries Saturday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers. Leeann Rodgers, 55, passed away shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday, troopers said in a Monday AST dispatch. Troopers say Rodgers' 1986 Toyota Camry was headed north on the Parks at Mile 66 on the afternoon of Oct. 7 when she crossed the center line of the highway. Her vehicle collided with a 2005 Volkswagen sedan headed south and driven by 75-year-old Wasilla man Ronald Palmer, who swerved into the guardrail in an attempt to avoid the crash.

One woman was killed in a vehicle accident in Dillingham early Sunday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers. Jillian Burton, 26, was a passenger in a 1998 Ford Expedition. She and driver Chelsea Clark, 21, were ejected from the vehicle after taking a left-turning curve on Aleknagik Lake Road at about 4:30 a.m. Neither of them was wearing a seat belt. Clark was medically transported to Anchorage with serious injuries and Burton was pronounced dead on scene. Two passengers in the back seat of the vehicle were treated for minor injuries at the hospital and then released.

A Wasilla couple was seriously hurt, and taken to the hospital, after the motorcycle they were riding on was hit late Sunday morning on the Parks Hwy. Troopers say 65-year-old Alfred Letendre, and his 62-year-old wife Louise were riding north on the Parks Hwy. at about 10:45 a.m., when 69-year-old Allen Hassen struck the couple in his 2000 Buick. Hassen, also from Wasilla, reportedly crossed the southbound lane's center line, after 22-year-old Hershey Haney, from Palmer, hit Hassen's car while Troopers say he was stopped, waiting to make a left turn onto Stanley Rd. Haney was cited for failure to exercise due care.

Two Big Lake residents were ejected from a sport-utility vehicle on the Parks Highway and suffered severe injuries when it skidded into a ditch Tuesday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers. Troopers say the SUV, driven by 20-year-old Holly Sturgeon, was headed south near Mile 49.5 of the Parks just after 1 p.m. when Sturgeon lost control in heavy snow. “The SUV skidded off the roadway and impacted with the snow piled in the ditch,” troopers wrote in a Wednesday dispatch on the crash.

Alaska State Troopers said a Wasilla driver succumbed to his injuries in a single vehicle rollover that happened in January. 61-year-old Walter Marion Davis died over a month after the Jan. 3rd crash that happened near mile 17.5 on the Knik Goose Bay Road. Troopers said Davis drove off the highway when he was traveling with 49-year-old Lloyd Ray Russell and rolled the vehicle one time, ejecting Russell in the crash, as Davis remained in the vehicle. Both were taken to a local hospital and Russell was later treated and released.

Alaska State Troopers and paramedics responded to a two-vehicle collision that injured two people Sunday afternoon on the Seward Highway, between Beluga Point and Indian. The highway was closed by the crash, but reopened at about 5:15 p.m. AST spokesperson Beth Ipsen says troopers received multiple calls about the crash at 3:09 p.m. The incident began when a 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck headed north and driven by 39-year-old Tammy Chase of Anchorage lost control coming around a curve near Mile 107 of the highway, hitting and sliding along a guardrail.

Alaska State Troopers say three people were injured, one of them seriously, after a single-vehicle rollover crash Sunday in Talkeetna. Troopers responded at about 7:19 a.m. to the scene on Beaver Road, where a 1988 Volvo sedan had left the roadway and impacted a ditch before rolling onto its roof and striking a tree. Talkeetna resident Storm Newgren, 18, was flown to Anchorage with serious injuries, while 23-year-old Richard Holt of Anchorage and 18-year-old Sarah Ellsworth of Talkeetna were taken to the hospital.

Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks reported a lights-out moment on a local road early Friday morning, when a driver fell asleep and knocked down a light pole that was driven over by two other people.   Troopers say 34-year-old Fairbanks resident Chet Hagan was driving a Chevrolet pickup headed east on Chena Hot Springs Road at about 1:55 a.m. when he hit the light pole near Love Road. The collision caused the pickup to skid across the road and land upside-down in the opposite ditch, while the pole fell across Chena Hot Springs Road.