Allen County driver dies as vehicle leaves road, overturns

2/4/2008

LIMA, Ohio - A 78-year-old Allen County man died shortly after the car he was driving overturned twice in the front yard of a home east of Lima at midday Saturday, throwing him out of the vehicle, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

Loren L. Kilgore of Bath Township northeast of Lima was pronounced dead in Lima Memorial Hospital.

He was eastbound on State Rt. 309 about seven miles east of Lima shortly after noon Saturday when the car veered off the right side of the road just east of Phillips Road in Auglaize Township, troopers said.

The car went airborne and struck a road sign, trees, a cast-iron planter, and numerous other objects as it traveled through three residential front yards before coming to rest about 30 feet from a house, troopers said.

Mr. Kilgore was not wearing a seat belt.

High speed contributed to the severity of the crash, troopers said, though they declined yesterday to estimate the speed at which Mr. Kilgore was traveling. The speed limit there is 55 mph.

The driver's medical condition also might have been a factor in the crash, which remained under investigation late last night, troopers said.