Hwy. 126W Fatal, Oct. 9

Oregon State Police (OSP) is continuing the investigation into the cause of Tuesday afternoon’s two vehicle fatal traffic crash that occurred on Highway 126W about three miles west of Walton in Lane County. The victim is identified as RICHARD ANDREW JACKSON, age 40, from Bloomington, Indiana. On October 7, 2014 at approximately 4:30 p.m., OSP and local emergency responders were dispatched to a reported two vehicle head-on crash on Highway 126W near milepost 30. Local emergency responders extricated two critically injured people from a pickup. JACKSON, the driver of the second vehicle, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Preliminary investigation indicates a 1995 Ford pickup driven by JACKSON was westbound on Highway 126W when it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with an eastbound 1998 Chevrolet pickup with two occupants. The two seriously injured persons from the Chevrolet pickup are identified as driver DEBORAH HOPE, age 56, from Eugene, and passenger RICHARD HENNIGAN, age 58, from Eugene. HOPE was transported by air ambulance to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis. HENNIGAN was transported by ground ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. OSP troopers from the Springfield and Florence offices are continuing the investigation. Recruit Trooper Candyce Fiddy is the lead investigator and Senior Trooper Blaine Hlebechuk is the lead collision reconstructionist.