A Stanfield man was killed Tuesday afternoon in a crash near Hermiston involving a motorcycle and semi-truck.
The OSP is reporting that a 2001 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by 40-year-old Jason Wesley Blankenship of Stanfield was southbound on SR 395 crossing the overpass for I-84 when a 2006 Freightliner semi towing an agricultural-use trailer pulled into Blankenship’s path of travel. Blankenship struck the semi and trailer and was declared deceased at the scene. The accident occurred around 2:15 p.m. at milepost 12.
The semi was operated by Roberto Rodriguez-Diaz, 41, of Umatilla.
SR 395 and the exit were closed for approximately three and a half hours while the investigation was completed. According to the OSP, inattentive driving and failure to obey a traffic control device on the part of Rodriguez-Diaz are being considered as factors in this crash. The investigation is continuing and will be forwarded to the Umatilla County District Attorney for consideration.
The Oregon State Police were assisted by Stanfield Police Department, Umatilla County Fire District #1 and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Potato truck drivers pull out in front of drivers all time!
Nearly ALL truck drivers are careless and don’t obey the traffic laws. Speeding, running lights, bulleys on the roads because they are bigger. There needs to be a focus and crack down on ALL of them!!
All trucks running on 395 from the Washington boarder to Stanfield drive way too fast and think they dont have to pay attention because they are bigger ……i agree we need a real crack down on the Truck traffic. I have personally known 3 people in the past 2 years that have been killed on hwy 395 because of trucks and speeding when will something be done?
As a resident of both the towns of Echo and Stanfield at one point I my life time. I can honestly say I have almost been hit by Five different semi trucks going to and from each town. It is ridiculous as to how many will do the slow roll through the stop sign and never even look to see if anyone is coming or not. THERE NEEDS TO BE A BETTER SYSTEM IN PLAY. Either a light or some heavy duty police activity.
Some truck drivers are careless or drive too fast. The local agricultural truck drivers are paid by the load and not by time or miles and because of that they have to push the limits all the time just to make a living. They are not ALL careless, and they are not All, as a class, speeders, scoflaws or flagrant miscreants. There are hundreds of trucks on the highways around this area and many people forget how far it takes a truck to stop, how hard it is to see smaller vehicles who cluelessly drive into the blind areas of the truck, and who think they have the right of way because they can. The place in question is very difficult to access 395 for a truck because of the limited visibility and the slow speed of powering up a truck from a standstill and pulling onto the road. The curve of the overpass prevents a truck driver ( or any driver) from seeing traffic going south on 395 and when that traffic is lower and dark in color and traveling fast there is a disaster in the making. Raging against the truck driver is dis-ingenious and inflammatory. Might just wait until the investigation is complete before commenting one way or the other.
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