Fence posts injure men in accident

Photo Courtesy OSP

The driver and a back seat passenger were seriously injured last Saturday when fence posts penetrated the windshield of a Chevy Suburban.

LEABURG: Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers are con-tinuing the investigation into cause of a Saturday afternoon single vehicle injury accident that occurred on Highway 126 near Leaburg. Two people were transported to a Springfield hos-pital for treatment of injuries sustained after large pieces of wood from a fence penetrated the windshield and struck both men.

The wreck occurred on April 20th at approximately 2:15 p.m. It involved a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban driven by Terry Bekkedahl, 63, from Veneta, with three other adult occupants was westbound on Highway 126 near milepost 15. For an undetermined reason, the vehicle traveled off the north shoulder, drove through a fence for about 100 feet and came to rest along the shoulder. As the vehicle was striking the fence, several large pieces of wood penetrated the windshield in three places striking the driver and a sleeping adult male in the left rear seat.

The driver was transported by air ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. The left rear injured passenger, Gus Bradford, 61, from Alvadore, was transported by ground ambulance to the same hospital. Both were seriously injured but were not in a life threatening condition. Right front passenger Neil Michael Hurley, 62, from Eugene, received minor injuries. He and the uninjured rear seat male passenger, Erik Bekkedahl, 37, from Tigard, were driven by OSP to the same hospital.

All the occupants were using safety restraints.

The highway was closed about 45 minutes and then opened to one lane of travel for the next thirty minutes before completely re-opened.

OSP troopers from the Springfield Area Command office are continuing the investigation. Trooper Ryan Hockema is the lead investigator. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office, McKenzie Fire & Rescue and ODOT assisted OSP at the scene.

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