Fatal HWY 200 Accident as Driver Drifts Over Centerline

Investigators with the North Dakota Highway Patrol are still trying to determine what caused the HWY 200 accident where a 49 year old Beulah resident’s car crossed the centerline and cause a head on collision with another vehicle. Though one of the passengers survived the serious accident without injury, the other driver was not so lucky and was pronounced dead at the scene.

So far, investigators have determined that the 49 year old driver was heading west along Highway 200 when his vehicle began to cross the centerline. Police do not appear to know what caused the vehicle to drift into oncoming traffic or whether the 54 year old driver of the other vehicle saw the danger prior to the crash. It was after crossing the centerline that the 49 year old man’s car slammed head on into the truck of the 54 year old from California.

Emergency crews responding to the scene found the 49 year old man’s car in the ditch and the 54 year old man’s truck stopped in the middle of the freeway. Investigators say that the truck was engulfed in flames at one point, but the driver was able to escape without injury. The 49 year old driver of the car was not so fortunate and likely died from fatal injuries.

Because the fatal accident is still under investigation, there are a lot of unanswered questions this month. As readers of our blog know, head-on collisions such as this can be a result of anything from intoxication to distracted driving. Although the 54 year old driver may not have experienced immediate injuries as a result of the accident, he could develop serious symptoms for crash injuries such as whiplash or traumatic brain injuries later and want to seek compensation. He will likely be wondering when he can take legal action and how he should go about doing so in this case. The hope from some residents may be that this driver knows about his rights to compensation from his injuries in the state of North Dakota.

Source: The Jamestown Sun, “One fatality in car-truck crash near Killdeer, N.D.,” July 30, 2013.