Anchorage Daily News

A 23-year-old Alaskan fresh out of the Navy was killed Sunday afternoon when he lost control of his car and it flew across a Seward Highway median and into the path of a Cadillac.

Danny Morris Clarion Jr., who grew up on Kodiak Island and lived in Anchorage, was probably killed on impact, Lt. Nancy Reeder of the Anchorage Police Department said.

His car, a 2000 Chrysler Sebring, was sheared into two pieces when it was T-boned by a 1991 DeVille driven by 17-year-old Zachary Schmoe of Anchorage.

Both men were alone in their cars. Schmoe, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Reeder said.

The crash left half of Clarion's car in the southbound lane of the Seward Highway near Dimond Boulevard and the other half in the northbound lane. Clarion, who had been driving in the northbound lane, was flung into the west guardrail in the southbound lane, Reeder said.

Clarion was raised in Ouzinkie, a town of about 200 on Kodiak Island. He was the oldest of six children.

"His mother told me he just got out of the Navy a short while ago," Reeder said.

Clarion is the 21st person to die in a traffic accident this year in Anchorage -- a disturbing increase over recent years, Reeder said. In both 2005 and 2006, 15 people died on the city's streets.

"This year we're at 21, and this is a time of year when we see more fatals," Reeder said. "We're high. And I don't know what's driving it."

Sunday's fatal crash might have been caused by a combination of snow and speed.

Clarion was just north of Dimond when he lost control during a heavy snowfall, Reeder said. "My guess is he was going too fast for the conditions," she said.

Two cars traveling behind Schmoe in the southbound lane were clipped by either the Chrysler or the Cadillac, and a couple of subsequent minor crashes occurred when other drivers tried to avoid the pieces of metal and debris.

"Evidence is slung all over the place," Reeder said.

Within about 10 minutes of the 12:41 p.m. wreck, police closed the highway at Dimond Boulevard. The road remained closed for almost five hours.

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.