FORT LARAMIE, Wyo. — An elderly Fort Laramie man perished Wednesday morning after the vehicle he was driving collided with a mound of gravel and overturned, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The fatal crash occurred at 8:46 a.m at milepost 29.5 on Highway 26, west of Fort Laramie. Patrol troopers were notified of a UTV rollover on the adjacent Service Road.
A 2020 Kubota RTV-XG850 was westbound on the road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks. The driver, who as been identified as 84-year-old Maurice E. Jepson of Fort Laramie, was assisting in the movement of cattle in the area and failed to notice a mound of gravel on the roadway.
The Kubota collided with the gravel and overturned. Jepson was not wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the crash scene.
The roadway was covered with snow at the time of the crash.
The WHP said driver inattention is being investigated as a possible contributing factor.
This is the fifth fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2023 compared to one in 2022, eight in 2021 and two in 2020.
