Memorial Day Weekend Begins With Numerous Fatality Accidents In Oklahoma

NewsOn6.com/News9.com

UNDATED -- Memorial Day Weekend began with numerous fatality car accidents in Oklahoma. All information is taken from Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports.

A fatality collision occurred Saturday at about 12:46 p.m. on SH7, 3.5 miles east of Sulphur, in Murray County.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, 65-year-old James W. Jacobs of Sulphur was pronounced dead at Arbuckle Memorial Hospital of a head injury.

OHP reports Jacobs' vehicle was traveling westbound on SH7, ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected to the left, went across both lanes of SH7, overcorrected right, came back across both lanes of SH7 and struck an embankment, overturning 1/4 time. Seatbelts were not in use in the vehicle and Jacobs was partially ejected through the driver's side window, according to OHP.

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

A Talihina man was killed in Latimer County on State Highway 63 about a quarter mile west of State Highway 82. At about 5:43 p.m. Friday, 19-year old Bailey Walker was driving eastbound on State Highway 63 when his 2008 Nissan crossed left of center and struck another vehicle head on.

Bailey was pinned in his car for about 20 minutes before he was freed by Talihina Fire and Rescue. He was taken by Air Evac to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa where he was pronounced dead. The driver and the passenger of the second vehicle were treated and released from local hospitals.

The trooper's report states that Bailey was in apparently normal condition, and all the people involved in the wreck were wearing seat belts.

Excessive speed contributed to the death of a 58-year-old Mounds man in a one-car accident that took place at about 7:13 p.m. on New Hope Road, just west of State Highway 102 in Pottawatomie County.

Troopers say George Eckles was driving a 1991 GMC pickup eastbound on the county road traveling at a high rate of speed. He lost control of his vehicle on the gravel road after topping a hill. The pickup went into a broadslide, striking a guardrail, going airborne, crossing a creek and landing on the opposite embankment.

Eckles was ejected through the driver's door, and his two passengers were ejected through the back glass. The passengers, 20-year-old Trevor Walker of Shawnee and 20-year-old Erick Eckles of McCloud were both injured but not severely, according to the trooper's report.

The condition of the driver is pending a medical examiner's report. The men were not wearing seat belts.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday on State Highway 3 about five miles north of Tom in McCurtain County, a 63-year-old woman was killed when her Toyota pickup went off the roadway and struck a mail box and culvert.

Edna Burnett Bilecki was pronounced dead at the scene after her truck struck the mailbox, vaulted into the air and rolled on its top. She was pinned for about five minutes and freed by the Haworth Fire Department.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol report states Bilecki was in apparently normal condition, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation. She was wearing a seatbelt.

A Duncan man lost his life in a one-car accident after being ejected from his car in a Stephens County wreck just before 9:30 p.m. Friday. Jarred Allen, 27, was driving westbound on Dr. Pepper Road about three miles west of U.S. Highway 81 when his Chevrolet  pickup left the roadway to the left.

Troopers say Allen overcorrected the vehicle which then left the right side of the road, rolled two times and came to rest on its tires. Allen was ejected about 93 feet from the truck and died at the scene due to massive head injuries.

His condition is listed as unknown. Seatbelts were not in use in the vehicle.