A 27-year-old Newcastle, Wyoming resident died in a crash near Newcastle on Saturday.
George Thompson died in a crash that occurred at about 7 p.m. on Saturday about seven miles west of Newcastle, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol.
Thompson was driving a 1993 Chevrolet pickup east on U.S. Highway 16 when the truck left the highway to the south and was overcorrected to the left. With the overcorrection, the truck went across the centerline of the highway and was overcorrected to the right, which sent the truck into a skid as it left the highway to the south. The truck tipped and rolled multiple times after leaving the highway.
Thompson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash because the truck’s seatbelt system had been completely removed prior to the crash. He was ejected from the truck and sustained fatal injuries on scene.
Suspected alcohol use, excessive speed, lack of a seat belt, and lack of seat belt use are being investigated as contributing factors in this crash that marked the 48th highway fatality in Wyoming for 2016.
There were 74 fatalities during this same time period in 2015.