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Wrong-way driver on Eugene's Beltline critically injures another driver, shuts down Saturday night traffic

KLCC | By Brian Bull
Published December 11, 2022 at 1:30 AM PST
Police and paramedics respond to a head-on collision involving an SUV headed the wrong way on the Beltline's eastbound lanes.
Photo used with permission from TJ Perrin.
Police and paramedics respond to a head-on collision involving an SUV headed the wrong way on the Beltline's eastbound lanes.

A crash caused by a wrong-way driver last night shut down all eastbound lanes of Eugene’s Beltline near the Coburg Road exit for two-and-a half hours.

A Eugene Police investigator told KLCC that the crash occurred around 9:45pm. He said a man driving a large SUV turned onto the eastbound lanes, and traveled a few hundred yards westbound before hitting a mid-size SUV head-on.

The driver of that vehicle suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be extracted by emergency crews. She was stabilized at a hospital.

The wrong-way driver was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants and assault in the second degree. After a major collision team scanned the crash site and the affected vehicles were removed, the Beltline reopened at 12:17am Sunday.

©2022, KLCC.
Disasters & Accidents
Brian Bull
Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
See stories by Brian Bull
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