AASHTO Journal - WYDOT Worker Honored for Saving Woman, Infant

The Wyoming Department of Transportation recently honored Tyle Myers with the agency’s G. Clyde Larson Memorial Award for saving the lives of a woman and her child following a winter’s night crash in December 2025 on Wyoming Highway 120 between Cody and Meeteetse.

[Above photo by WYDOT]

The agency noted that award recognizes acts of heroism by WYDOT employees either on or off the job.

WYDOT said Myers was plowing snow around 4:45 a.m. on December 22, 2025, when he noticed tire tracks in the snow suggesting a vehicle might have slid off the highway.

“Although he could have continued plowing, knowing many miles of roadway still required attention, Tyle (Myers) chose to stop and investigate,” explained Trooper Brett Tillery with the Wyoming Highway Patrol in a statement. “Myers exited his warm plow truck and discovered that a vehicle had left the roadway, traveled west down a steep embankment, and come to rest at the bottom of Dry Creek.”

Tillery said Myers, “without hesitation,” climbed approximately 30 feet down a snow-packed icy embankment to reach a 1997 gray Lincoln passenger vehicle. Inside, he found a female driver and an infant trapped in the vehicle. After radioing for help, he then remained at the crash scene until emergency personnel arrived.

Myers then “took the extra step of applying ample sand to the roadway to reduce the risk of additional accidents,” Tillery said. “Had he not taken the initiative to investigate, the vehicle might not have been discovered for hours or even days due to its concealed location.”

“This was certainly not the situation you expected to deal with when you started off in your snowplow that early morning,” noted Darin Westby, WYDOT director, to Myers during a June 18 agency awards luncheon. “Others might have overlooked the subtle signs of trouble or simply continued driving, but your attention to detail and commitment to public safety saved a mother and her child.”

Since its inception nearly 57 years ago, 63 WYDOT employees – including Myers – have been honored with the G. Clyde Larson Memorial Award. The Wyoming Highway Commission established the award in 1969 in honor of the late G. Clyde Larson of Jackson, who was appointed to a six-year term on the then Wyoming Highway Commission, which is now the Wyoming Transportation Commission.

The agency added that Myers’ name will be engraved on a permanent plaque mounted in WYDOT headquarters in Cheyenne.