PUMPKIN CENTER, Okla. – A four-car pile up on state highway 7, just west of Pumpkin Center, sent five people to the hospital and brought traffic to a screeching halt, Wednesday morning.
It happened around 10:45 a.m. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a cement truck driving east bound towards Duncan slowed down to turn right into a construction zone. They say the cars directly behind the truck slowed down, but one vehicle did not. The person behind the wheel was driving too close and too fast to stop in time.
When 7News arrived to the scene, three of the cars were so entangled it was hard to tell where one stopped and another began. Another one of the cars that had been hit from behind was about 10 feet in front of those.
The very last car was wedged so far beneath the truck in front of it that the cab of that truck was pushed vertically into the air. One of the drivers says she will never forget the moment of impact.
The screeching sounds of metal being crushed and the smell of leaking gasoline is what Vicky Cline says she remembers about this morning's crash. She saw the cement truck in front of her slow down, so she did, too. One car did not.
"But boy we were hit, bang, by this Patco truck and it knocked me about 10 foot up here. That's the reason there's space there between us is because he knocked me. When they hit him, we got hit and then hit again," said Cline.
The actual crash was scary enough, but Cline says she had something else to worry about.
"[I was worried about] my son's neck because I knew he wasn't supposed to get any mess. We have been so careful because he just had that surgery and those are fused. The surgeon told him to be so very careful because the least thing could break that loose," said Cline.
Cline says fortunately, her son seemed to have made it out okay. But something similar could happen again. The roadway is under construction, so there are barriers, cones and heavy equipment all around. That is why OHP Trooper Lt. Jerry Howell says to take it easy.
"People need to slow down. Even though the speed limit says 55, that is the absolute maximum. They need to drive even slower is what I would recommend," said Howell.
Howell says this accident sent five people to the hospital and that it is a prime example of why you should never speed in a construction zone.
"We could have very easily had multiple fatalities and very well have a construction worker struck and injured or killed. I believe in the state of Oklahoma we've already lost one in the last two months, a construction worker," said Howell.
Cline says this accident could have been prevented and she has a message for any would-be speeders.
"I think it's ridiculous. They ought to have their driver's license taken away from them and hobbled. That is terrible. I have no compassion for people who speed in a work zone," said Cline.
Traffic was stalled for about 45 minutes. The condition of those injured this morning is still unknown at this time.
Howell says that fines are doubled for anyone caught speeding in a construction zone. He says anyone that causes an accident in a construction zone because of speeding will get a separate citation in addition to the speeding ticket.
