A crash in Oklahoma has taken the life of a local Wichita Falls man. The victim, 80-year-old Clarence Eugene Bishop, was a passenger in a car that rear ended a pickup truck. The wreck happened on Monday night in Cotton County. News Channel Six reports that troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol have stated that the car Bishop was riding in was following a truck too closely. The car rear-ended the pickup truck on I-44. The car then veered off of the road and hit a center barrier. No information has been released on the condition of the pickup truck driver. The driver of the car, Linda Baxter of Burkburnett, was also taken to the hospital. She was listed in fair condition. Bishop died late on Wednesday night at United Regional Hospital.
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety’s Highway Safety Office reports that there were 696 crash-related fatalities in 2011. They also report that the primary contributing factor for fatal crashes in 2011 was unsafe speed. In Texas, 3,048 people died in roadway crashes in 2011. Last November, we reported on a KAUZ News Channel Six story about roadway fatalities in Texas. At least one person died on Texas roadways every day during a 12 year period.