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Truck drivers face many dangers as they travel the open road and unfortunately, sometimes those hazards come in the form of themselves. In trying to push through fatigue, it's not uncommon for truck drivers to continue their journey through the night, even when they are on the verge of falling asleep. This is what happened in one Oklahoma truck collision recently that left a few people injured.
Two trucks were traveling southbound on Interstate 35, a few miles northwest of Paoli a little after 4:30 a.m. when one of the drivers fell asleep and crashed into the other truck. Curtis Lee Jones, 57, of Dallas, Texas was driving a 2000 Freightliner truck and also had two passengers riding with him. The second truck was also a Freightliner truck and it was being driven by Joe Terrill Banion of Houston, Texas. Jones fell asleep and ran into the back of Banion's truck near the 80.7 mile marker.
Jones was airlifted to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City after being pinned in his truck for about 45 minutes. He had to be extricated by Pauls Valley firefighters using the Hurst tool. Marvin Danlevy, 28, was one of the passengers in Jones' truck and he was also airlifted to the same hospital with head injuries. Danlevy was the only person not wearing a seat belt. The second passenger, Arthur Lee Franklin, 48, was taken to Purcell General Hospital where he was treated and released. Banion was not injured at all and did not receive medical treatment.