What started as a routine Tuesday drive on Missouri Route 28 ended in tragedy for a 26-year-old Dixon man, who died after his pickup crashed and overturned south of Dixon. According to troopers, the truck veered off the roadway, hit a ditch, rolled, then struck a construction sign and a culvert before finally coming to rest on its roof. Emergency crews flew the driver to University Hospital in Columbia on a Mercy Life Line helicopter, where he was pronounced dead at 10:47 p.m. Tuesday.
As reported by KOMU, the Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report pinpoints the scene on Missouri 28 just south of the intersection with Route O and lists the approximate time of the crash as 2:15 p.m. The report identifies the vehicle as a 2012 Ford F-250 driven by a 26-year-old Dixon man and notes that he was not wearing a seat belt at the time. Troopers documented that the truck ended up on its top and that the wreck caused damage to the roadway and nearby roadside features.
How troopers say the crash unfolded
The crash report states that the pickup "skidded off the left side of the roadway, struck a ditch, overturned, then struck a construction sign and a culvert," according to KOMU. First responders worked to secure the scene while Mercy Life Line airlifted the driver to Columbia for emergency care. Pulaski County authorities and state troopers were still on scene as they continued to investigate what led up to the crash and what contributing factors might have been involved.
Seat belts and rollover risk
Troopers reported that the driver was not wearing a seat belt, a detail that safety researchers say can dramatically increase the likelihood of a deadly outcome in rollover crashes. Analyses from federal agencies and safety organizations indicate that lap and shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal injury and greatly cut the chance of being ejected in a rollover. For more background on how restraints protect occupants, see research from the IIHS along with related NHTSA analyses.
Investigation and what to know
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation, and troopers will file an official report that will be logged in the patrol’s online crash-record system for Troop I. So far, no arrests or charges have been reported. Authorities have not yet released the driver’s name, citing the need to notify family members first, and they have asked that anyone with information about the crash contact local law enforcement.
