A 64-year-old West Jefferson man was killed on Wednesday afternoon, November 11, in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 36 in Scioto Township, Delaware County, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. Robert Shipley was pronounced dead at the scene.
Source: Ohio State Highway Patrol account via CrashDaily (NBC4i reporting)
The crash happened shortly after 1:20 p.m. on U.S. Route 36 at Ostrander Road, also known as County Road 163, in Scioto Township, a rural township in the western part of Delaware County, north-west of Columbus. Reports based on the patrol's preliminary account say Shipley was driving westbound when traffic ahead of him slowed.
How the crash happened, according to the patrol
The patrol's preliminary account, carried in multiple reports, is that Shipley, driving a 2018 Ford F-150 westbound on U.S. 36, had slowed for traffic when his pickup was struck from behind by a 2015 Ford F-350 travelling in the same direction. The force of the rear-end impact pushed Shipley's pickup left of the centre line.
Once across the centre line, the F-150 was struck on its passenger side by an eastbound 2016 Honda Pilot, reports citing the patrol said. Shipley suffered fatal injuries in the sequence of impacts and was pronounced dead at the scene. No other vehicle was reported to be involved.
Reports based on the patrol's account identify the F-350 driver as Brian Brown, 62, of Ostrander, and the Honda Pilot driver as Andrew Mosier, 47. Both men were transported to local hospitals for treatment. The patrol has not released their conditions, and no hospital has issued a public update on them.
Response on the scene
The Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Concord Township Fire Department, Delaware County EMS and the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, according to the reports. First responders closed and worked the scene on the two-lane highway while troopers began documenting the crash, as is standard after a fatal collision in Ohio.
The patrol has not announced why the F-350 struck the slowed pickup, whether speed, distraction or any other factor played a role, or whether any citation or charge will follow. Those questions remain part of the active investigation, and no finding of fault has been made public.
The road and why this stretch matters locally
U.S. Route 36 is one of central Ohio's main east-west roads, carrying a mix of local drivers, farm traffic and commercial vehicles through Delaware County's townships between the Columbus suburbs and communities further west. In Scioto Township it is a two-lane rural highway, where a single rear-end impact can push a vehicle directly into the opposing lane, as investigators say happened here. For the Punjabi truckers and delivery drivers among our readers who run Ohio's two-lane state and U.S. routes, the crash is a reminder of how quickly slowed traffic on an undivided highway can become a fatal chain reaction.
What happens next
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says the crash remains under investigation. Troopers will complete their reconstruction and findings before any decision on citations or charges is announced. The conditions of Brown and Mosier had not been released as of the latest reports, and the patrol has not given a timeline for its final report. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when the patrol issues its findings.