A Wellston woman has died from injuries she suffered in a three-vehicle traffic collision on U.S. 177 in Pottawatomie County and a Wellston man was critically injured in the crash.
State Highway Patrol Trooper Preston Davis, of the Patrol’s Traffic Homicde Divsion, identified the woman who died as Janice Marie Olson, 56. The trooper said she was transported to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City with head and trunk injuries and was pronounced deceased by OU Medical Trauma.
Davis reported she was a passenger on a 2002 Honda motorcycle driven by James Michael Ray, 76, also of Wellston. He suffered trunk and head injuries and was admitted in critical condition after being transported to OU Medical Center.
The trooper said the fatal collision occurred about 4:45 a.m. at the intersection of U.S. 177 and Tucker Road, one mile south of Tecumseh.
Davis reported that Wyatt Slaughter, 30, of Seminole, driver of a 1998 Ford Explorer and Ismael Moulaye Soumare, 32, of Sanger driving a 2021 Ford 350 were not injured.
The trooper reported the collision happened as the vehicle driven by Slaughter was passing vehicles in the oncoming lane. He said the Ford Explorer struck the trailer of the vehicle driven by Soumare and then Slaughter’s vehicle struck the motorcycle.
The Ford Explorer came to rest on the outside shoulder of U.S.177 facing northbound in the southbound lanes, he said. The trooper further stated the occupants on the motorcycle were ejected from the vehicle into the roadway.
Conditions of all the drivers at the time of the collision were apparently normal, he said. He reported cause of the collision is still under investigation. No helmets were in use, the trooper stated.