A 64-year-old Haleyville man died Monday after the pickup truck he was driving left a rural road near the Bankhead National Forest, overturned, and slammed into a tree in Winston County. Barry L. Cox was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Cox was behind the wheel of a 2006 GMC Canyon when the truck ran off the roadway on Cranal Road near Sipsey Fork Road, about eight miles north of Double Springs, as reported by WBMA. The truck overturned and struck a tree during the crash, and investigators say Cox was not wearing a seat belt at the time. ALEA's Highway Patrol Division troopers are investigating, and authorities said no additional information was immediately available.
A Forest Corridor With a History of Close Calls
Cranal Road, also known as Winston County Road 60, provides access from Alabama Highway 33 to the Sipsey Wilderness Trailhead near the Sipsey River Picnic Area, according to Wild South.
Just last year, local residents and forest visitors raised concerns about vehicle and pedestrian traffic on Cranal Road near the Sipsey Recreation Area after storm damage closed a pedestrian bridge, forcing people on foot onto the same narrow curves and steep hills used by cars and heavy log trucks, the Northwest Alabamian reported at the time. Cox lived in Haleyville; the crash occurred about eight miles north of Double Springs, the Winston County seat.
Seat Belt Use and Crash Survival
Seat belt use remains a central factor in survival outcomes. Nearly 60 percent of motorists killed in Alabama traffic crashes were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision, per the same ALDOT report. Federal research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that a properly worn lap and shoulder belt reduces the risk of fatal injury for front-seat occupants of light trucks and pickup trucks by 60 percent, underscoring the heightened ejection risk Cox faced driving an unbelted pickup.
Single-Vehicle, Tree-Strike Crashes Dominate Fatality Totals
Single-vehicle crashes accounted for 543 of Alabama's 967 traffic fatalities in 2024, and tree strikes made up 43 percent of all fixed-object crash deaths nationwide, according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Light truck and SUV occupants made up roughly 35 percent, or 343 fatalities, of all motor vehicle deaths recorded across the state in 2024, per VINCheckup.
Alabama's seat-belt law is enforced as a primary offense and carries a $25 base fine. The requirement has been enforced statewide since 1999. ALEA's Highway Patrol Division continues to investigate why Cox's truck left Cranal Road.
Cox's death follows another fatal rollover reported in Alabama this month: a Helena man was killed in a U.S. 82 rollover near Tuscaloosa. No further details on the Winston County investigation have been released.
