Man dies, wife seriously injured in head-on crash on Highway 99.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

JUNCTION CITY - A Eugene man was killed and his wife was seriously injured Friday when a farm truck hauling fence posts lost control and hit a carpet-cleaning van traveling in the opposite direction on Highway 99 North.

The van's driver, Richard Lajoie, 74, was pronounced dead at the scene, near the entrance to Fiddler's Green Golf Course south of Junction City.

Annetta Lajoie, 70, was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. Her condition was not available later Friday.

Preliminary information showed that the 1983 Chevrolet farm truck was traveling north on the highway about 11:23 a.m. when traffic began to slow, Oregon State Police said.

The driver hit the brakes and the trailer began to jackknife, forcing the truck and trailer across the center median into the southbound lanes.

The Lajoies' 1980 Ford Econoline van crashed head-on with the truck.

The impact forced the van off the road. It come to rest upside down in a ditch.

The truck and trailer came to a stop partially on the highway shoulder and right southbound lane.

The truck's driver, Dennis Duane Haag, 51, of Junction City, was not injured.

Early reports indicated that one of the vehicles caught fire, but police found no evidence of fire at the scene, state police Lt. Mike Bloom said.

About an hour after the crash, the white Ford van was still on its roof in a ditch along the southbound lanes. The passenger door had been cut away and clothing and large plastic bins were scattered around the van.

State records show that Annetta Lajoie owns Guarantee Carpet Cleaning and Dye Co. in Eugene. The business' logo was printed on the side of the van.

The engine hood from the truck was in the center of the southbound lanes. The cab itself was upright but gnarled, the front axle twisted. The trailer had flipped upside down and bundles of wooden fence posts were on the ground. The trailer's upright supports left deep gouges in the pavement.

Skidmarks showed the truck's path from the northbound lanes to the southbound lanes.

Reconstructionists from the state police and the Eugene police Major Collision Investigation team used survey equipment to map the scene.

Both southbound lanes were closed for several hours, and southbound traffic was rerouted onto one of the northbound lanes.

Troopers from the Spring- field office were investigating.

Any witnesses who have not spoken to state police troopers investigating this fatal crash are asked to call the OSP Northern Command Center at [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Firefighters respond to Friday's accident on Highway 99 near Fiddler's Green Golf Course. One person was killed in the wreck.