Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News
Alex Baker, 19, and Rodney Rogers, 16, both of Soldotna, were killed when their vehicle was struck head-on by a pickup truck that was attempting to pass a line of cars near mile 111.5 of the Seward Highway on August 6, 2009.
Published: August 6th, 2009 04:01 PM
Last Modified: October 19th, 2009 12:56 PM
Along a picturesque stretch of the Seward Highway about noon Thursday, the driver of a white pickup swung into the passing lane to get around a line of cars -- a move that spurred a chain reaction of vehicle collisions that ended with two teenagers dead and a pregnant woman hospitalized, Alaska State Troopers said.
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The four-vehicle pileup -- a fifth vehicle managed to negotiate the scene without damage -- closed the highway for about 5 1/2 hours as troopers tried to clear the wreckage and figure out what had gone wrong along Turnagain Arm.
Six people have died since May between Potter Marsh and the Turnagain Pass area. And not one of those killed, according to trooper investigations, caused the accident that killed them.
The deaths have prompted a meeting being held tonight at which troopers and the Department of Transportation plan to talk about the problem and listen to suggestions from the public.
"There's a lot of stuff to discuss," Sgt. Bryan Barlow said. "Here we are again, and now we've got a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old dead. Does it really need to be that that brings us back into focus?"
Thursday's wreck took place about Mile 111, near Beluga Point. In addition to the two who were killed in the four-car pile-up, two others were injured.
Troopers identified the two who died as Alex Baker, 19, and Rodney Rogers, 16, both of Soldotna. A pregnant woman in the car with them, Elizabeth Miller, 17, of Soldotna, was taken to Alaska Regional Hospital, troopers said. She was expected to survive.
Baker's MySpace page indicates he was the father of the child. His family could not be reached Thursday.
Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said the wreck was triggered when Girdwood resident Benjamin Cosper, 32, traveling south in a white Dodge crew cab truck, attempted to pass a string of vehicles in a passing zone.
"He was passing a line of vehicles. Multiple vehicles," Barlow said. "There was a lot of traffic and traffic so close together that he wasn't able to get back in so oncoming traffic was forced to try and make room."
The pile-up occurred on a section of the highway hugged by a ditch and rock face on one side and a guard rail on the other, leaving no out for drivers who might end up speeding face to face.
A northbound truck towing a U-Haul trailer swerved to the far edge of the road to avoid the Dodge but the Dodge clipped the wheel on the trailer, causing the truck and trailer to roll. The Dodge then crashed head-on into Baker's blue Suzuki sedan behind the truck, Ipsen said.
Another vehicle in the mix, a white SUV behind the sedan, swerved to avoid the collision and escaped unscathed, but the Dodge went on to sideswipe a red Ford truck behind the SUV. The Dodge lost a wheel, went into a ditch and hit the rock wall, Ipsen said.
Baker was driving, Rogers was in the backseat and Miller was in the front passenger seat of the Suzuki, Ipsen said. Cosper, whose injuries were described as minor, was also taken to the hospital. Everyone else escaped injury, she said.
No citations were issued Thursday.
A relative who answered the phone at Cosper's house Thursday afternoon said he didn't know any details of the wreck.
Troopers estimated wreckage from the chain reaction was scattered over a quarter mile of the pavement. Hours after it happened, traffic remained stopped for miles in both directions.
Crews on the road worked to load the wreckage onto flat-bed trucks as passengers waiting for traffic to move stepped out of their vehicles to wait as the sun peeked through clouds over water that seemed still as a lake.
The upside down U-Haul trailer sat in a ditch, the pickup attached to it on its side. The blue Suzuki that carried the dead teens was missing most of its roof. Next to it, a pile of discarded clothes and a couple of skateboards sat on the rocks.
A procession of wreckers, carting tangles of metal, drove off from the scene shortly after 5 p.m.
The wreck brings to eight the number of people killed in six accidents so far this year on the Seward Highway, though two of the deaths took place in Anchorage between Tudor and Dowling roads.
Three of the crashes have taken place along the safety corridor, the stretch of highway between Potter Marsh and Mile 87. Since 1997, only 2008 had more fatal crashes that have occurred so far this year, with four, according to Department of Transportation data.
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call 257-4589. Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.
Girdwood public forum is tonight
After a pair of fatal Seward Highway accidents in late July, Girdwood fire chief William Chadwick called for a public forum to discuss ways of reducing the death toll. It is happening tonight at the Girdwood Community Center from 7 to 10 p.m. In addition to Chadwick, representatives from the Alaska State Troopers and Department of Transportation will be on hand to discuss statistics, projects in the works and safety on the highway. Citizens will also be able to comment with suggestions on improving safety. For more information, call the Girdwood Fire Department at 783-2511.
Summer of fatalities along Seward Highway
In little more than three months, eight people have been killed in six accidents:
• May 3, Mile 111: Woman thrown from motorcycle, struck by truck; one dead
• May 17, Seward south of Tudor Road: Camaro racing another vehicle crashes; two dead
• July 4, Mile 74: Head-on collision; one dead
• July 24, Mile 76.6: Driver crosses line, hits side of oncoming car; one dead
• July 26, Mile 88: Head-on collision; one dead
• Thursday, Mile 111.5: Head-on collision; two dead
Editor's note: The story comments to this story have been brought over to our follow-up story, published Sunday, Aug. 09, 2009.
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