A Tulsa man has died nearly a month after a wrong-way driver slammed into his car head-on on Interstate 244, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Fredie Hunter Jr., who is 64 years old according to seed facts reported by KOKH though FOX23 has also identified him as 65, passed away on Sept. 30 from injuries sustained in the Sept. 5 crash near Sheridan Road.
A Crash That Turned Deadly Weeks Later
Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers responded to the crash along eastbound I-244 at Sheridan on Sept. 5, according to KOKH. Investigators say 43-year-old Angelo Lacirignola was driving a Corvette westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-244 when he hit a Dodge Ram head-on. Hunter was behind the wheel of that vehicle, traveling eastbound, when the wrong-way Corvette struck his car, according to FOX23.
Both Lacirignola and Hunter were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, per officials cited in the KOKH report. Hunter was taken to Ascension St. John, where the station reports he was treated for a traumatic brain injury, brain damage and a broken back. Three other people involved in the crash were expected to be okay, according to the same account.
Months of Hospital Care Before His Death
Just a week after the crash, FOX23 reported that doctors expected Hunter to remain hospitalized as an inpatient for six months to a year. “They say probably six months to a year inpatient,” the station reported at the time, underscoring the severity of his injuries. Instead, Hunter died on Sept. 30 — just over three weeks after the collision — with OHP confirming his death was a result of the injuries he sustained that day.
State Lawmakers Push Study on Wrong-Way Crashes
Hunter's death adds to a string of wrong-way crashes that have drawn renewed attention from Oklahoma safety advocates this year. The nonprofit Victims of Impaired Drivers is working with state Rep. Nicole Miller on an interim study aimed at preventing wrong-way crashes, as reported by KOCO. The study is expected to examine how Oklahoma addresses wrong-way driving and whether additional technology could provide earlier warnings to drivers, and is expected to take place this fall, according to the outlet.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has already installed technology at various locations statewide that uses flashing lights to alert wrong-way drivers, KOCO reports. Two wrong-way crashes on Oklahoma highways earlier this year, both allegedly involving impaired drivers, helped prompt the push for the study, according to the same report. Other wrong-way crashes have made headlines around the state in recent months, including one that killed a 32-year-old Oklahoma City man on Interstate 40 in August and another near Eufaula Lake that killed two drivers on Highway 69, both reported by KOCO.
Hunter's death remains under the umbrella of the Sept. 5 crash investigation by Oklahoma Highway Patrol. No additional details about the circumstances of the crash or its aftermath have been released beyond what troopers and the hospitalized parties' conditions have shown so far.
