Guilford County EMS personnel and a firefighter work at a wreck involving an 18-wheeler on West Market Street in Greensboro.
Posted on 12/01/2005 3:03:47 PM PST by Libloather
Man dies in tractor-trailer wreck
From Staff Reports
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Guilford County EMS personnel and a firefighter work at a wreck involving an 18-wheeler on West Market Street in Greensboro.
GREENSBORO - A middle-age man was killed in an early-morning wreck Thursday on West Market Street after he pulled his car into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer, police said.
The wreck occurred at the intersection West Market and Landmark Drive. The impact pushed both vehicles about 50 yards east of the collision, where they came to a rest on the side of the westbound lanes of West Market Street.
A fire soon engulfed the cab of the truck and what appeared to be a Toyota passenger car.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was treated and released at the scene, police said. Police did not immediately release his name. Police believe the truck was carrying U.S. mail.
The driver of the Toyota, whose identity police have not released pending family notification, died inside the burning vehicle, police said.
Authorities at the scene said power had been knocked out in the area because the vehicles knocked down a power line.
Duke power crews estimated full power will be restored shortly after noon.
The road remains closed on West Market Street from Landmark Drive east to Brigham Road.
The 1,000th person died on South Carolina’s roads Wednesday, leaving the state on track to break a 33-year-old record.
The state’s total traffic-related deaths crossed the 1,000 mark when a deer slammed into a woman’s car in Barnwell County early Wednesday, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the S.C. Public Safety Department.
“As of midnight last night (Tuesday), we’ve had 999 people killed compared to 939 last year this time, which puts us at 60 over last year,” Gaulden said. “Keep in mind, we had 105 in December (2004).”
But Gaulden said those numbers were before 50-year-old Rosa L. Kennedy lost control of her vehicle after a deer ran into her 2000 Ford.
Troopers say the wreck happened at about 5:23 a.m. on Highway 70, about nine miles east of Barnwell. A deer crashed into Kennedy’s driver’s side door, causing her to swerve into the path of a Dodge pickup truck.
“It struck the side of the driver’s door, causing the driver to veer off the right side of the roadway,” S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Dwight Green said. “She overcorrected back to the left. At that point, the car was out of control, going sideways, and it struck the front of the Dodge truck.”
Green said that while Kennedy wore a seat belt, it didn’t appear she had much of a chance for survival. “She died on the scene,” Green said.
The driver of the Dodge, a 48-year-old Denmark resident, was not believed to have been seriously injured.
In 1972, four years after safety belts became mandatory equipment in all new vehicles sold, South Carolina recorded 1,099 traffic deaths, Gaulden said.
The state’s seat belt law changes Dec. 9, allowing officers for the first time to stop drivers for not wearing their seat belts. Officers can now only charge people for not wearing a seat belt if they are stopped for some other reason.
Last year, the state had 1,045 traffic fatalities for the entire year.
What has officials concerned is that the state is on track this year to record 1,107 deaths, should the past year’s averages bear out.
Three weeks short of the Christmas holiday weekend, and only hours after Kennedy’s fatal accident, the total number of victims climbed to 1,001.
In Richland County, one person died in a two-car accident that happened at the junction of Interstate 20 and Highway 277. And at press time, Highway Patrol officials were investigating another, possibly fatal accident in Aiken County that occurred Wednesday.
Thirteen people were killed on South Carolina’s highways over the Thanksgiving weekend, which lasts from Wednesday afternoon until midnight Sunday. Over the weekend, an 85-year-old Columbia woman died after she was involved in a car crash a few miles south of Santee.
Charlotte Adolphson died Sunday as a result of injuries she received in a two-car crash Saturday afternoon at the junction of U.S. 301 and S.C. 176.
Officials say the victim’s husband, 78-year-old Carl Adolphson, attempted to make a left turn onto Hwy. 176, driving the couple’s 1990 Honda into the path of an oncoming vehicle, Green said.
Meanwhile, with the weekend figures factored in, Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg County fatalities are only one higher than they were this same time last year.
In 2004, the three counties registered 63 fatalities up to this point, while this year’s total has reached 64.
Officials say they don’t have exact figures, but they believe one of the main causes for fatal accidents is driver-related.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of crashes caused by overcorrection, or whipping the steering wheel to return an errant car to the roadway, Green said. Once a vehicle has left the roadway, it becomes susceptible to sliding or veering out of control.
“Instead of coming back onto the road, just let your car slow down on its own,” Green said. “The grass is slick, you’re not going to have the same traction that you do on the road.”
ALL THESE TRAFFIC DEATHS!!! WHEN ARE THE LIBRALS GOING TO SCREAM TO OUT-LAW VEHICLES???
Clearly a kamikaze attack by the car.
That's it! Pull out of SC now!!
;)
How long will it be til the RATS scream
IT'S BUSH'S FAULT! Ha! That's the question!
There is a lesson in here somewheres... That would be, "When you play beat the truck, you lose big if you lose..."
All relative isn't? 2000 In Iraq and the MSM is going apesh***t. 40,000 killed on highways every year............how many murdered in the USA by gangbangers every year?? Thousands...........
I'd be interested to see what the increase breaks down to in terms of numbers of passenger cars vs. light trucks.
Just curious, but with all the mandatory increased safety measures car manufacturers are forced to put into our cars, increasing the costs of our cars my how many thousands, shouldn't the traffic deaths be dropping accordingly? No?
Then lets go back a few decades and build some simpler and much less expensive cars eh?
US out of America!
You mean, US out of occupied America!
No blood for oil (changes).
This message brought to you by PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Automobiles.
LOL!!!
That's what I was thinking!
Time for the Nancy Pelosi Battle Cry: Bugeye! Bugeye! (that means Bugout! Bugout!)
I demand an immediate reduction in the speed limit to 55 and an increase in daylight savings to 12 months a year. And a .85 increase in the gasoline tax. That will fix it.
Stupid 'apples and oranges' comparison. It makes insignificant the deaths of those who have died fighting for this country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.