11/11/2009 6:08:00 AM Mayer man loses life in wrong-way wreck
Mayer resident Raymond Cook lost his life on Nov. 5 when his Dodge Durango, travelling in the wrong lane on Highway 69, collided head-on with this pickup.
Photo courtesy Mayer Fire Dept.
A Mayer man died Nov. 5 and two people were injured in a collision on Highway 69 about six miles north of the community.
Dept. of Public Safety officials said that shortly before 6 p.m. this past Thursday at milepost 275.5 near the Mayer Fire Dept. entrance, a Mayer area woman driving southbound in a small SUV swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a 1998 Dodge Durango driven by Mayer resident Raymond Cook, 61. The SUV driver lost control after she swerved, and rolled the vehicle, said DPS Sgt. Tim Hawes.
DPS officials said Cook then continued northbound in the wrong lane to about milepost 276, where he collided head-on with a 2000 Chevrolet pickup.
Emergency personnel took the SUV driver to the hospital, where she was treated and released the same night. A helicopter flew the driver of the Chevrolet, 50-year-old Walter Neitzel of Phoenix, to a Phoenix area hospital. Cook died in the collision.
The collision closed northbound lanes for about three hours, and southbound lanes for more than four hours. Officials said impairment did not appear to be a factor in the accident.
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