Californian woman dies in accident on Silver Falls Highway in Oregon

Oregon State Police on Thursday released the identity of a passenger who was killed in a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Silver Falls Highway and Cascade Highway on Saturday.

Officers arrived at the scene at 9:32 p.m. A preliminary investigation revealed that a Buick Encore SUV traveling southbound on Cascade Highway entered the intersection and was struck by a Chevrolet 3500 pickup truck traveling eastbound on Silver Falls Highway, a news release said.

As a result of the impact, both vehicles came off the highway and landed in an adjacent field.

A passenger in the Buick, Phyllis Ilene Russo, 88, of Mountain View, California, was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Buick, a 55-year-old woman also of Mountain View, was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

The 18-year-old driver of the Chevrolet and a 17-year-old passenger, both of Salem, were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Two other passengers in the Chevrolet, both 17-year-old Salem residents, were uninjured.

The press release states that OSP considers failure to comply with a traffic control system to be the main cause of the accident. Another factor considered is the driver's impairment.

The motorway was closed for seven hours while the investigation continued.