Couple Drowns In Pond After Car Accident

Wednesday, July 5th 2006, 4:34 pm

By: News On 6

A Claremore couple is dead after their car flew off a turnpike onramp and landed in a Rogers County pond. The car was eastbound coming off Highway 266 onto the Will Rogers Turnpike when the driver lost control on a sharp curve. The News On 6â€™s Heather Lewin reports rescuers say this is not the first time a car has landed in the water there, and neighbors want something done about it.

It was the property owner's biggest fear that someone would fly off that sharp curve on the Will Rogers Turnpike near the Highway 266 exit and die. Living next to the turnpike the family sees the danger every day. They say the worst part is it could've been prevented.

"We saw two tire marks going off the ramp," said witness Carolyn Cegielski. "Somebody's gone into the pond, it's happened again."

Carolyn Cegielski can't bear the thought of what the victims went through when they plunged down the steep ravine straight to the bottom of the pond, 25 feet deep. Investigators say 55-year old Terry McCollum and her husband, 66-year old Jerry were trapped when the car landed upside-down, pinning them inside. Terry was at the wheel when the car went over the median and off the curve. It took two hours to pull them out, authorities said.

"You know you think of the family and all that, it's very heartbreaking," Cegielski said.

This isn't the first time she's seen it happen, in fact, Cegielski says she's been fighting for years, asking officials to do something about that dangerous curve, put up some type of safety barrier to keep cars from ending up in the pond.

"Well, they need some guardrails," said Cegielski.

The interchange was built in 2002. After witnessing two accidents in the first three months, Cegielski contacted turnpike officials. In a letter to the editor she wrote, "The odds are evident that a future accident, possibly a tragic one, will happen." Cegielski says her warning went unheeded.

"And I just wanted everybody to know that something needs to be done. On that curve, there's really nothing to stop anybody,â€ Cegielski said. "Because after three or four other accidents where people have got out safely, I just knew that someday somebody wouldn't."

Despite several other wrecks there, officials say this is the first fatality.

Investigators say Terry McCollum was speeding when she missed the turn. There is a sign as drivers approach the curve warning them it's sharp and that the speed limit is 25 miles per hour.