Robin Ayres Killed in Crash with Truck on US-70 in McCurtain County, OK
McCurtain County, OK — June 28, 2022, 61-year-old Robin Ayres died after a collision with a tractor-trailer on U.S. Highway 70 in McCurtain County.
According to reports the incident happened around 5:55 p.m. on US-70 at Wheeler Road, near Valiant. Preliminary investigation suggests Ayres was driving a Fiat 500 east on the highway when she collided with the back of a nearby semi-truck for unknown reasons.
Ayres, reportedly not wearing a seat belt, was ejected in the collision and suffered critical injuries. She was airlifted to an area hospital where she later died. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Robin Ayres Accident in McCurtain County
Folks tend to see a rear-end collision and simply assume the rear driver did something wrong. In many cases investigators find that's true, considering how often things like speeding, following too closely, and distracted driving are found to cause a crash like this. However, it's not right to take any of those for granted or blame the victim before more thorough investigations are conducted.
Other contributing factors could have been overlooked at first glance or not considered. For example, what if the truck driver braked suddenly ahead of the victim? What about the road being wet or hazardous, causing the victim's car to lose traction? Would those issues be ignored even though they could have caused the victim to hit the truck? I would certainly hope not.
The law is nuanced enough to weight the impact of all a crash's contributing elements, but first those elements have to be found. That's why careful and complete investigations are so important in these situations. Will law enforcement put in the work to be sure the whole story is known, or should independent investigators take another look?
