Whitney Joplin was driving down State Highway 9 on Wednesday afternoon just like any other weekday. She was 37 years old and lived in McAlester, Oklahoma. Around 2:20 p.m., her routine drive ended in seconds when an oncoming car crossed into her lane, causing a fatal three-vehicle crash.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol responded to the scene about half a mile west of State Highway 9A in Pittsburg County. State troopers found three damaged vehicles sitting in the roadway, blocking traffic while emergency crews worked to secure the area.
According to investigators, the crash began when an eastbound driver ran off the right side of the road. The driver tried to get back on the pavement and overcorrected sharply to the left. That sudden move sent the vehicle sliding across the yellow centerline directly into oncoming westbound traffic.
Joplin was driving west in her lane and had no time or space to avoid the oncoming car. The two vehicles slammed into each other head-on in the westbound lane, coming to a sudden stop in the middle of the highway.
A second westbound driver, who was trailing behind Joplin, saw the crash happen right in front of them. The driver turned hard off the road to avoid hitting Joplin’s vehicle, but could not get clear of the wreck in time and struck the rear of the overcorrected car.
First responders made it to the site within minutes, but Joplin died from her injuries before she could be transported. Troopers spent hours clearing car parts from the lanes and directing drivers away from the closed stretch of State Highway 9.
People across McAlester are dealing with the sudden shock of losing a 37-year-old neighbor on a familiar local road. State troopers are finishing their final accident report as they review the roadway marks and vehicle positions from the crash.
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