By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A woman has died after her semi truck overturned on State Highway 4 early Thursday morning, Yukon police confirmed.
The driver was pulling 45,000 pounds of frack sand for an oil company and was driving north when her truck drifted off the road just south of the North Canadian River.
The road was blocked off from Wagoner Road to Wilshire Boulevard as police worked the scene early Thursday.
“The investigation is ongoing, but it appears she drifted off the road, inattentive driving and once you do that, there’s no recovering from that because of the weight of the load,” Yukon police Major Mitchell Hoskins said.
Four hours after the accident employees with Environmental Impact were siphoning the diesel fuel that had leaked into the creek. A worker said that after the truck drifted from the roadway, it turned over and the cab submerged in the water. It was not known at press time if the driver drowned or was killed by the impact of the crash.
Police were withholding the victim’s name pending notification of family.
Hoskins urged drivers to take care along a road that is no stranger to serious accidents.
“It’s been that way for 20 years and we have a lot of bad accidents on that road, but distracted driving is a big, big problem right now. You can’t stress that enough for drivers to stay focused on your driving,” he said.
The highway is scheduled for improvement, including widening the road with shoulders and other safety features.
City and state officials are currently working on utility relocation. Construction should begin sometime next year.
