A 29-year-old Yukon man died Sunday in a single-vehicle roll-over crash that happened about 8:05 p.m. on Highway 97 North, two km north of Salmon Valley Road.
The blue southbound GMC Canyon pickup truck left the highway and rolled in the ditch, coming to rest on the passenger side in the southbound lane of the highway. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle and rushed to UHNBC where he died from injuries.
Two passengers including a 28-year-old female and nine-year-old boy, both wearing seat belts remained inside the vehicle during the crash. They were both taken to hospital, but released shortly with non-life threatening injuries.
Police, who continue to investigate, believe that speed and not wearing a seat belt played a major role in the crash and death of a young man.
Police remind the public that not only is it an offence to not wear a seat belt, but that seat belts do save lives. "In this case two people walked away from a crash that could have resulted in more than one death," said RCMP Cst. Madonna Saunderson of regional traffic services.
