Wyoming Driver Killed After Crashing Through Fence and Into Ditch

A Wyoming man is dead after crashing his car through a fence and into an irrigation ditch, the Wyoming Highway Patrol says.

The crash happened last Wednesday, Dec. 7, at mile marker 63.3 on U.S. 26/U.S. 287, about seven miles east of Dubois.

According to a crash summary, 29-year-old Aaron Bigknife was behind the wheel of a westbound Chevrolet Camaro when he drove off the right side of the highway and hit the right-of-way fence, causing a cross-member post on the fence to fatally injure him.

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"The Camaro continued along an irrigation ditch until it vaulted and entered an end-over-end rollover," the crash summary reads. "The Camero came to rest on its roof, in the irrigation ditch, facing south."

The patrol says the crash was not discovered until daylight hours but estimates it occurred around 1:30 a.m.

The crash summary lists driver inattention and other factors as possible contributing factors.

Bigknife is the 125th person to die on Wyoming's highways in 2022 compared to 108 in 2021, 124 in 2020, 142 in 2019, and 109 in 2018 to date.

2022's Deadliest Wyoming County by Traffic Deaths

While car crashes can occur anywhere, some roads in Wyoming are more dangerous than others.

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol data, there were 117 fatal crashes in the Cowboy State in 2022 resulting in 133 deaths.

Of those fatal crashes, the majority (13.68%) occurred in Laramie County -- two in January, one in February, one in March, two in April, one in June, two in July, three in August, two in September, one in November, and one in December.

Sweetwater County saw the second most fatal crashes last year, 12, while Fremont and Lincoln counties each saw 10.

Albany and Park counties each recorded eight, and Campbell, Converse, and Natrona counties each tallied seven.

The deadliest 2022 crash in Laramie County took place on June 17 when two semis collided on Interstate 80 east of Cheyenne and immediately became engulfed in flames killing both drivers and a passenger.

Laramie County also saw two fatal crashes involving motorcyclists, two fatal crashes involving juveniles, and a fatal crash involving a pedestrian last year.

Below is the Wyoming Highway Patrol narrative of every fatal crash that occurred in Laramie County in 2022.

Gallery Credit: Joy Greenwald