A Choctaw County man has died several days after suffering serious injuries in a single-vehicle crash near Toxey, according to Alabama State Troopers.
William Robert Vonfrick, 29, of Toxey, was driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado on Narrow Road when the truck left the roadway and struck a tree, troopers said. The crash happened about 10 miles west of Toxey on a Wednesday. Vonfrick was transported by medics to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries before succumbing to them several days later.
Trooper Jamie Maloy, who is investigating the crash, said troopers were still working to determine the exact cause as of the following Monday. State troopers routinely investigate single-vehicle crashes on rural roads in Choctaw County to determine whether speed, road conditions, mechanical failure or driver error played a role, though no additional details about the cause had been released at the time.
Narrow Road, like many rural routes in Choctaw County, winds through wooded terrain with limited shoulders and few streetlights, conditions that can make single-vehicle crashes especially dangerous when a driver runs off the pavement. Crashes involving a vehicle leaving the roadway and striking a fixed object such as a tree remain one of the leading causes of traffic deaths in rural stretches of west Alabama, where higher speed limits and long, unlit roads offer less margin for error than in town.
Vonfrick’s death adds to a string of fatal crashes state troopers have investigated on rural roads across the Choctaw County area in recent years. Local officials and troopers have periodically urged drivers on rural routes to slow down, avoid distractions and stay alert for wildlife or debris that can suddenly appear in the roadway, particularly on narrow, two-lane roads without center barriers.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Highway Patrol Division continues to investigate the crash. Anyone with information about the circumstances leading up to the wreck is encouraged to contact state troopers.
Choctaw County, tucked along the Tombigbee River in southwest Alabama, is served primarily by state troopers and the county sheriff’s office for traffic enforcement on its network of rural roads, many of which see limited law enforcement patrols compared with more heavily traveled highways in neighboring counties.