Texting said cause of Highway 195 fatal accident

The driver had veered toward the shoulder and corrected, but the Toyota Camry was in the wrong lane of Highway 195 Friday morning, Sept. 12.

“Witnesses reported the car straightening out and it stayed there,” said Whitman County Coroner Pete Martin.

A semi-truck was approaching in the southbound lane and the two vehicles collided head-on.

Sam Thompson, 20, of Colfax, died instantly of blunt trauma/massive chest injuries.

“Everything indicates that he was under the impression he was in the northbound lane,” Martin said. “He had centered in the lane, but it was the wrong lane.”

The driver of the...