On July 11th, 2018 a fatal crash occurred at milepost 291 on Interstate 25 near Buffalo, Wyoming. At 2:12 p.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to the area for a one-vehicle rollover.
A 1992 Jeep Cherokee was traveling northbound on Interstate 25 around 75 mph. The driver of vehicle failed to negotiate the right hand curve and the vehicle exited into the northbound right of way. The driver of the vehicle over-corrected to the left, crossing both northbound lanes of travel, and entered into the median. The vehicle overturned approximately two and a quarter times, before it came to rest in the median.
The driver was properly seat belted in the driver’s seat but sustained fatal injuries due to the compartment intrusion during the rollover. The seat belt was used by the passenger. It is currently unknown if it failed and unbuckled during the rollover, causing him to be ejected, or if he extricated himself and collapsed near the vehicle. Driver inattention is being investigated as a contributing factor in this crash.
The driver has been identified as 18-year-old Northglenn, Colorado resident Caroline Rae Ware.
The passenger has been identified as 19-year-old Thornton, Colorado resident Jonathan Jesse Douglas Burns. He was taken to Buffalo Hospital by ground ambulance and was hospitalized.
This is the 49th fatality on Wyoming’s highways in 2018 compared to 73 in 2017, 47 in 2016, and 69 in 2015 to date.