Portland driver killed in head-on collision with semi-truck on Highway 97 in Klamath County
Barney Lerten
KLAMATH COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Portland man was killed Sunday afternoon in a head-on collision with a semi truck on Highway 97 in Klamath County Sunday, Oregon State Police said Monday.
Troopers responded around 3:45 p.m. to the two-vehicle crash near milepost 220.
A preliminary OSP investigation found that Mark Evan Simpson, 48, of Portland was heading north at the wheel of a black Kia Forte when he came upon the scene of an earlier, three-vehicle non-injury crash.
The Kia crossed the center line and drove on the southbound travel lane, colliding with a semi driven by a a British Columbia resident who was pulling onto the highway shoulder to avoid a disabled vehicle from the first crash, troopers said.
After the collision, Simpson’s Kia spun back across the northbound lanes, coming to rest against a tree off the highway’s northbound shoulder.
Simpson died at the scene, OSP said, while the truck driver was uninjured.
Highway 97 was closed or affected for about five hours by the crash and on-scene investigation.
OSP was assisted by the Chemult Rural Fire Protection District, Chiloquin Fire and Rescue, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.