CURRY COUNTY, N.M. — New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash on State Road 209, north of Clovis on Thursday at around 11:00 a.m. New Mexico Department of Transportation employee Gerald R. Woodard, 58, was fatally struck by a vehicle while he was providing traffic control for a crash being investigated by the Curry County Sheriff’s Department.

The investigation shows that NMDOT was providing traffic control around the crash scene using cones. NMSP said a 2014 Dodge Ram driven by a 69-year-old man failed to follow the traffic pattern and collided with a 2020 NMDOT Ford pickup. Woodard was in the bed area of the truck at the time of the collision.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The driver of the Dodge was taken from the scene in critical condition and was later airlifted to a Lubbock hospital.