Driver Says Passenger Tried To Slap Him Before Fatal Crash

CUSHING, Okla. (AP) -- The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a fatal car accident near Cushing may have been caused when a passenger tried to slap the driver.

Troopers say 37-year-old Elizabeth Ann Lewis of Cushing was killed when the 1992 Ford Explorer she was riding in ran off a Payne County road and rolled over.

The driver told OHP that he slammed on the brakes after Lewis started to slap him, and that led to the crash shortly before midnight.

The jaws of life were used to free both people, and the driver was treated at a hospital and released.