Investigators say a Tillamook man may have suffered a medical emergency before a fatal car crash on U.S. Hwy 101 Saturday morning.
Ronald Gregory Smith, 76, of Tillamook was driving northbound on Hwy 101 when he used the right shoulder to pass an SUV driven by Ronald Francis Smith of Seaside.
The Tillamook man’s vehicle sideswiped the SUV then crossed the southbound lane and traveled onto the shoulder where it struck an embankment and several trees.
Ronald Gregory Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger, Marie Schmitt of Tillamook, sustained serious injuries and was flown to a Portland-area hospital.
The driver of the SUV was not injured.
The highway was impacted for approximately five hours during the on-scene investigation.
That evening, another fatal crash that ultimately involved four different vehicles and 17 people occurred on Hwy 30 near milepost 85 in Clatsop County.
Investigators say 65-year-old Marshall Stangland of Warrenton was driving westbound on the highway when he crossed into the eastbound lane for unknown reasons.
He sideswiped a truck and continued going in the wrong direction. Another car was unable to stop and struck Stangland’s vehicle as well as a van occupied by 11 Oregon National Guards members who were returning to Camp Rilea from a training event.
Stangland was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say he was likely not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The driver of the van was taken to a hospital with serious injuries while the drivers of the two other vehicles involved suffered minor injuries.
The highway was impacted for approximately four hours during the on-scene investigation.