Friends and relatives of a woman who died in a crash on US 93 are urging safety improvements.
Lillian Clark, 47, was the mother of three children. She worked as a rideshare driver.
“She just had the biggest heart,” said Lillian’s cousin Leah Seitz. “She always wanted everyone to just have a good time.”
Clark was alone driving from the Valley to Las Vegas on February 12. Just before 8 p.m. she was at mile marker 92, approaching I-40 and Kingman. She was speaking to a friend on her speakerphone when a crash occurred.
“It almost sounded like three thumps,” said Susan Ogg, a friend. “I thought, ‘Oh, she has hit a deer.’”
Clark had been hit from behind. She went off the road and her car rolled. Somehow her phone stayed connected, and Ogg could hear as emergency crews arrived.
“I heard an ambulance come in,” Ogg said. “I heard [a man] again say, 'Over here. This one is alive.'”
Ogg said an officer eventually found the phone, realized a call was still connected, and told her Clark had died.
Clark’s family and friends said US 93 is a dangerous road that needs improvements and more police enforcement.
“The whole thing is just very, very bumpy,” said Amber Posey, another one of Clark’s cousins. “There’s very little guardrails; there's zero lighting.”
“No one else should have to go through this because of reckless drivers and roads being unsafe,” said Seitz.
Clark was driving on a four-lane section of US 93, but more than 30 miles near Wickenburg remain two-lane highway.
In May 2021, ABC15 first reported on US 93's extensive crash history, referring to the drive as a ‘deadly gamble.’ The station's reporting shows how many of the crashes happened in two-lane sections and widening those sections would reduce deadly head-on collisions on those stretches.
The Arizona Department pf Transportation plans to start construction on widening a five-mile section of the road this year. ADOT’s tentative five-year construction plan includes widening an 18 additional miles, with construction projects beginning in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
The Department of Public Safety told ABC15 there is an ongoing criminal investigation into the crash that killed Clark.
The family of Lillian Clark set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for her children.
