Normally the first thing you might think of when you read the title of this story is...

...that weather had something to do with a recent tragic death out on State Highway 1, that's a pretty common thing to assume, but this wasn't the case in this situation. At 8:11 on a Thursday morning ( May 25th ) the skies were clear, and temperatures were in the high 50s to early 60s - the roads were listed as "Dry Pavement" - Yet from all the conditions I just mentioned, a man lost his life in the most unheard of way.

A 58-year-old man from Valley City, ND was pronounced dead at Oakes Hospital

Looking at the picture of this State Highway, and hearing that a man lost his life in broad daylight, in good weather mind you, I would immediately think he either had a heart attack or maybe fell asleep driving. The cause of death was listed as a loose rock through the driver's windshield. This is part of what the ND Highway Patrol released on the accident:

"At 8:11 am, a 1999 Kenworth semi-truck with a belly dump trailer was northbound on State Highway 1 in Lamoure County with a load of rock. A 2019 Dodge Ram, driven by a 58yr old male from Valley City, ND, was driving southbound approaching the Kenworth. As the two vehicles neared each other, the belly dump trailer released its load of rock onto the roadway. A loose rock from this load struck the windshield of the Dodge, passing through the windshield striking the driver"

The driver died later at Oakes Hospital - his passenger was uninjured - The driver of the semi-truck was not hurt as well - according to mydakotan.com  "The load of rock was not intended to be dumped onto Hwy. 1. The crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol"  So what happened? Time will tell if any information will have more answers -  a complete mystery on such an awful incident.


 

LOOK: Most dangerous states to drive in

Stacker used the Federal Highway Administration's 2020 Highway Statistics report to rank states by the fatalities per billion miles traveled. 

 

 

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