A tractor-trailer driver was arrested after turning left in front of an oncoming car at a Huachuca City intersection, a collision that killed the car's driver at the scene. The crash happened Thursday night at the intersection of State Route 90 and State Route 82.
According to KOLD, the Arizona Department of Public Safety responded to the fatal two-vehicle crash late Thursday. DPS said the tractor-trailer turned in front of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction at the SR-90 and SR-82 intersection, and that the driver of the car died at the scene. The tractor-trailer driver was arrested and is facing charges of strict liability and failure to yield, DPS said, per the station's report.
What Arizona Law Requires at Left Turns
Under Arizona law, a driver turning left within an intersection must yield to an approaching vehicle coming from the opposite direction if that vehicle is already in the intersection or close enough to pose an immediate hazard, according to Arizona Revised Statutes, § 28-772. The strict-liability and failure-to-yield charges reported in this case align with that right-of-way requirement, though the evidence available does not establish how the statute will ultimately apply in court, and there is no indication yet of a plea or case outcome.
A Stretch of Highway With a Troubled History
State Route 90 has been the site of other serious crashes in the area. A hit-and-run reported on the roadway in Huachuca City in front of a Circle K left a woman in her 20s with serious injuries, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office told KVOA. In a separate case from June 2021, a fatal crash on State Route 90 injured a woman and her child and killed a 9-year-old boy who was riding with the other driver involved; the driver in that crash was later sentenced to 25 years, according to myheraldreview.com.
Elsewhere in Cochise County, a fatal head-on crash on U.S. Highway 191 on Feb. 28, 2025, ended with driver Mason Rose sentenced to seven years in prison for negligent homicide. A toxicology report in that case found Rose's blood alcohol concentration was .090, KVOA reported.
