OHP: Driver Making U-Turn On Muskogee Turnpike Causes 3-Vehicle Crash

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says several people were injured in a wreck after an Arkansas man tried to make a U-turn on the Muskogee Turnpike in Wagoner County.

Troopers say the driver of a Dodge van, Duane Carter of Greenwood, Arkansas, was southbound at about 8:30 a.m. when he tried to make a U-turn using the barricade turnaround. A semi driver who was following the van hit his brakes and was struck from behind by a third vehicle.

One of the passengers in the van, 19-year-old Nancy Vea of Charleston, Arkansas, was ejected and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Several other people in the van received minor injuries. Only one other person was admitted to a hospital, 18-year-old Brady Osborne of Las Vegas.

The trucker in the second vehicle was uninjured.

Several people were in the passenger bus that hit the semi from behind. They were all treated and released from the Veteran's Administration hospital in Muskogee.

The investigating trooper said the cause of the wreck was an improper U-turn. The drivers of all three vehicles were in apparently normal condition at the time of the wreck.

The OHP said the crash closed all lanes in both directions from 9:15 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. The lanes were reopened at 10:45 a.m.

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