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December
18, 2001
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| RESCUE PERSONNEL work on extricating victims of a two-car collision Saturday morning during heavy snowfall on Mancos Hill. A Shiprock woman was killed and four persons were injured, two seriously, in the crash, which happened on a stretch of U.S. Highway 160 covered with ice and snow. A Cortez woman was cited for careless driving causing death, careless driving causing injury, and other charges in the accident. |
Journal Staff Report
A Shiprock woman died this weekend after the car in which she was a passenger collided with another vehicle that skidded on icy Mancos Hill Saturday morning. Four other persons were also injured in the accident.
Victoria Kaibetoney, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene and was taken to the Chapel of Memories funeral home in Kirtland, N.M.
Her husband, Joe Kaibetoney, 50, was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital with broken bones and internal injuries, according to the Colorado State Patrol. He was later transported to San Juan Regional Hospital in Farmington, where a spokesperson said he was in fair condition Monday.
The driver of the other vehicle, Billie Tucker, 51, of Cortez, sustained a broken pelvis, according to the state patrol, and was taken to Southwest Memorial, where the spokesperson described her as “stable” on Monday.
The two passengers in her vehicle have been released from the hospital.
Kristi Archibeque Tucker, 29, of Cortez, who is seven months pregnant, suffered skeletal injuries and was admitted to Southwest Saturday but released Sunday, according to the Southwest spokesperson.
Zenda Rice, 29, of Cortez, suffered minor injuries and was treated and released Saturday at Southwest.
The accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. on the western slope of Mancos Hill, where snow was falling heavily. According to CSP Trooper David Van Bibber, the Kaibetoneys were westbound on U.S. Highway 160 at about 35 mph descending Mancos Hill, with Joe Kaibetoney driving, when their 1990 Ford Tempo was struck by a Thunderbird driven by Tucker..
Tucker, who had two passengers in her car, was eastbound and was starting to climb the hill at about 45 mph when her car skidded on the ice and sailed into the westbound lane. The Thunderbird hit the Tempo, which caromed off a guardrail and slid 147 feet, according to Van Bibber.
Tucker was cited for careless driving causing death, careless driving causing injury, no proof of insurance, and displaying fraudulent and expired license plates, Van Bibber said.
He said, although she was driving under the 65-mph speed limit, it was still “probably too fast” for the conditions. The highway from Cortez to Mancos was wet, he said, but conditions worsened around Milepost 57 and “at Milepost 59 it was all black ice and snow-covered and snowing.”
Also, Tucker’s tires were “just on the fringe of being unsafe.” He said while they were within legal limits, if their tread had been any shallower, they would have been in violation of the law.
Van Bibber said Tucker told him she was not comfortable with the road conditions and had been looking for a place to turn around.
“Really there was no intent on her part,” he said. “She was not blatantly, intentionally careless, but some things were overlooked that might have prevented this.
“It was unfortunate that these things happened, but they did,” he said.
Both the Kaibetoneys were wearing seat belts, according to responders at the scene. No information was available on who in the other car was wearing a seat belt.
U.S. 160 was closed for about half an hour after the accident. Ambulances from Cortez, Mancos, and Mercy Hospital in Durango responded to the scene, although no one was transported to Mercy. The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, Mancos Fire Department, and the Mancos town marshal also responded.
Mancos Times editor Tom Vaughan contributed to this report.
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