ALAN MURRAY/Standard-Examiner

Layton police officers examine a vehicle involved in a fatal crash on U.S. 89 Friday.

U.S. 89 crash claims life

Traffic shut down for hours

Sat, Nov 2, 2002

By LINDA TOBLER
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau

LAYTON -- For now, there is no reason why.

But the dashboard forced through the shattered front windshield of the white Buick Century is evidence of a severe two-car accident that cost a man his life and completely shut down traffic on U.S. 89 Friday afternoon.

Two accident victims were also flown by helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital and LDS Hospital, respectively, and three others were sent by ambulance to local hospitals. Identities of the individuals involved in the accident were withheld pending notification of relatives.

ALAN MURRAY/Standard-Examiner

Firefighters work to free the body of an accident victim from a vehicle at a crash scene on 1975 North and U.S. 89 in Layton Friday.

The accident occurred at 1975 North U.S. 89 just before 2 p.m., when a tan Chevrolet Lumina, headed north, inexplicably crossed into southbound lanes hitting the Buick that was in the outside southbound lane. The blow of the Lumina crumpled the driver"s side of the Buick, and the driver was killed instantly.

"At this point, we don"t know why the Lumina crossed into southbound lanes. He may have fallen asleep, he may have tried to make a U-turn. We don"t know," said Layton Police Lt. Quinn Moyes.

The Buick came to rest in weeds on the road"s shoulder. While the driver, the only occupant of the Lumina, was conscious and talking following the accident, all five of the occupants in the Buick were unconscious when emergency personnel arrived on the scene. The occupants had to be extricated from the vehicle.

"It was surreal. It was like something on TV. They were the worst injuries I"ve ever seen," said Steve Greenwalt, who did not witness the accident, but was one of the first on the scene. "I knew he (the driver) was dead right away."

Helicopters landed on U.S. 89 to pick up victims.

Conditions of some of the victims were unavailable late Friday night.

However, of the two victims admitted to McKay-Dee Hospital, one was in fair condition with a fractured wrist, and the other was in critical condition and in surgery.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, Moyes said.

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Two more die from injuries in Layton highway crash

Tue, Nov 5, 2002

By LINDA TOBLER
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau

LAYTON -- Police continue to investigate the cause of an accident on U.S. 89 Friday that has now claimed three lives.

Two more people died from injuries sustained in the two-car accident near 1975 North and U.S. 89 that caused the highway to be shut down for several hours Friday afternoon.

Robert Oxborrow, 72, Mapleton, died at the scene. Edith Reid, 90, Nevada, and Sally Meservy, 47, West Jordan, were flown from the site of the accident and later died of their injuries.

Accident victim Bobbie Oxborrow-Lott, 49, Springville, is in serious condition at McKay-Dee Hospital, and Sarah Oxborrow, 69, Mapleton, was released from McKay-Dee Monday.

All five were in a white Buick Century that was hit nearly head-on in an outside lane by a Chevrolet Lumina driven by William Woolf, 66, West Jordan. Woolf was not seriously injured.

Police are still not sure why Woolf"s vehicle crossed from northbound lanes and veered across three lanes into the outermost lane of southbound traffic.

After the accident Woolf was seen by emergency personnel at Ogden Regional but was not admitted.

"The driver said he wasn"t talking on his cell phone or shuffling papers. It is still unclear why he veered into oncoming traffic," said Layton Police Lt. Quinn Moyes.

Blood samples of Woolf were also taken.

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Copyright ©2003, Ogden Publishing Corporation

Collision kills 3, injures 3 in Layton

The following correction was published in the Monday, Nov. 4, 2002 Deseret News:
Robert M. Oxborrow, 72, Mapleton, was driving a car that was traveling south on U.S. 89 Friday when a vehicle traveling north crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with Oxborrow's car, killing him and two other passengers. A story in Sunday's Deseret News stated otherwise. Also, Sally Meservy, 47, West Jordan, was one of three people killed in the accident. Police originally gave an incorrect spelling of the woman's name.

LAYTON — Three people died and three more were hospitalized after a head-on collision on U.S. 89 Friday afternoon.

Killed were:
Robert M. Oxborrow, 72, Mapleton.
Sally Masservy, 47, West Jordan.
Edith Reid, 90, Lund, Nev.,

A sedan was traveling north on the highway when it crossed into the southbound lanes and collided with another car at approximately 2500 North, according to the Layton Police Department.

Oxborrow, the driver of the sedan, was pronounced dead at the scene. Masservy and Reid, his passengers, died later after being flown by helicopter to LDS and University hospitals, respectively.

Two other passengers, Geraldine Oxborrow, 69, of Mapleton and Barbara Oxborrow Lot, 49, of Springville were taken by ambulance to McKay-Dee Hospital. Geraldine Oxborrow was in fair condition Saturday while Lot remained in critical condition, a nursing supervisor said.

The driver of the other vehicle, William Woolf, 66, West Jordan, was treated at Ogden Regional Medical Center and released Friday.

Police are investigating the accident, including what caused the sedan to cross the roadway's center divide.

U.S. 89 was closed in both directions while emergency personnel tended to the victims. The occupants of the sedan, all of whom are related, had to be extricated from the vehicle by a Layton Fire Department crew, according to the police department.