Truck driver trying to avoid wrong-way pickup on I-80 strikes a second pickup, killing five
The Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) has released more information about a chain-reaction crash that killed five students over the weekend.
The crash occurred shortly before 7 p.m. on January 22 east of Rawlins, Wyoming.
According to WHP, troopers were notified of a wrong-way driver on I-80 at 6:52 p.m. and were then notified of a collision involving the wrong-way driver at 6:58 p.m.
Following an investigation into the crash, troopers say that a Dodge Ram 3500 was eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-80. The Dodge Ram struck a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle.
As this crash occurred, the driver of a second commercial vehicle swerved into the median and then into the eastbound lanes of I-80 to try to avoid the wrong-way Dodge Ram.
The commercial vehicle struck an eastbound Ford F-150 head-on and both vehicles immediately caught fire.
The five occupants of the Ford F-150 died as a result of the crash. They were students returning to Arkansas following a visit to Jackson Hole Bible College in Jackson Hole, according to reports.
Others involved in the crash suffered critical injuries.
“The driver of the Dodge, who was driving the wrong way, has been arrested on suspicion of impairment and may receive future charges as the investigation unfolds,” WHP said in a news release.