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Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, a single vehicle crash claimed the life of an Orrville woman.

Lucy M. Lewis, 69, sustained fatal injuries in the accident which occurred just outside Orrville.

“[Lewis] was fatally injured when the 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer that she was driving left the roadway and struck a tree,” said Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Corporal Reginal King.  “Lewis was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash and was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

The crash happened on Alabama Highway 22 near the 9-mile marker, just one mile east of the Orrville city limits in Dallas County.

King said ALEA Troopers with the agency’s Highway Patrol Division continue to investigate the crash. Nothing further is available at this time.

According to King, roughly half of traffic fatalities Troopers have investigated this year involved victims who had the ability to put on a seatbelt and chose not to use them.

“A seat belt is the single most effective tool vehicles are equipped with that help to keep you safe in the event you are involved in a traffic crash,” King said. “It only takes three to four seconds to properly buckle up, meaning you take your position in the seat, grab the buckle, pull it across your body, and lock it.”

King emphasized motorists can experience a fatal crash in the same few seconds and urged drivers to take that time to buckle up properly.

“If you’re involved in a traffic crash, it only takes those same two or three seconds to be violently killed,” King said. “People do not just die in traffic crashes. Traffic crashes are violent ways to die. So, take a few extra moments and make sure everyone in the vehicle is not just buckled up, but buckled up properly. The law states that if you’re not wearing it properly, it’s just like you’re not wearing it at all.”