Last Thursday, two separate highway accidents ended in fatalities, bringing the number of highway crash deaths in Wyoming this year up to 90. At this time in 2015, there had been 113 highway fatalities reported in our state.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports that the first accident happened in the early dawn hours on Thursday. At roughly 4:20 that morning, an Idaho man named Kark Esterholdt was traveling east on I-80 near Green River when his 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee crossed into the median. Esterholdt, 46, then overcorrected the vehicle, which caused it to leave the road and slide into a ditch where it vaulted, hit a concrete wall, and rolled. Esterholdt was wearing his seatbelt, but was too severely injured to survive and died later that morning at Sweetwater County Memorial Hospital in Rock Springs. Officers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol are still investigating the crash.
Also on Thursday morning, one man was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident and two others were taken to a hospital with injuries after a head-on collision on Highway 20/26. According to the Casper Star-Tribune, this accident happened at about 9:30 Thursday morning when the Volkswagen sedan driven by Michael Stewart, 48, veered into oncoming traffic on the highway, hitting a Dodge Ram truck head-on. Stewart died at the scene, and the two people in the truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The crash is still under investigation, but it is suspected that driver inattention or distracted driving may have played a role.
In both of the fatal accidents that occurred on Wyoming highways last week, it was reported that the victims were wearing their seatbelts. While in the most severe wrecks, a seatbelt may not be enough to save vehicle occupants from serious injury or death, the fact is that wearing a seatbelt can dramatically improve a person’s chance of survival in many accidents. Tragically, the Wyoming Eagle Tribune recently reported that WHP numbers suggest that up to 60% of the victims of highway fatalities in Wyoming were not wearing seatbelts when they crashed.
In Wyoming, it is currently not legal to drive or ride in a vehicle without wearing a seatbelt. However, our state has only secondary enforcement seatbelt laws, which means that an officer is not able to pull vehicles over simply to address seatbelt offenses. If a driver is pulled over for another reason and is found not to be properly restrained, he or she may be given a ticket. If there were a primary seat belt enforcement law in place, Wyoming officers would be able to pull vehicles over and write tickets solely on the grounds of non-restraint (not wearing a seatbelt).
Even though Wyoming historically has one of the lowest rates of seatbelt compliance in the nation, and even though it is a known fact that seatbelts save lives, many lawmakers have resisted a primary seatbelt enforcement law. According to WHP Sgt. Duane Ellis, “Anytime you have a primary seatbelt law, it raises the use rate.”
In truth, every driver and passenger should wear their seatbelt every time they get in a vehicle—whether the law enforces this practice or not. Even the most vigilant and cautious of drivers may be injured or killed in an instant due to other drivers who are drunk or distracted, or any number of factors that could cause a car crash. If you or your loved one has suffered in a car wreck in Wyoming and you believe someone else’s negligence caused or contributed to this suffering, you may be owed compensation. For more information, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in Wyoming to schedule a free legal consultation.
