Another crash occurs at accident-prone location
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 23, 2005 2:05 AM
For the third time in five days, the Highway Patrol investigated a traffic collision at U.S. 70 and Beston Road, just east of Walnut Creek. On Friday, it involved one of their own.
The administrative assistant in the patrol's Wayne County district office, Alma Raynor, 41, was driving to her home in Kinston at about 5:30 p.m.
A northbound driver stopped at the stop sign on Beston Road, but then he started up and the pickup collided with Mrs. Raynor's compact car that was in the left lane.
Neither Mrs. Raynor, nor the other driver, Filegonio Gonzalez Diaz, 41, of Talbert Drive, Goldsboro, was injured. Diaz was charged with a yield violation. Both vehicles were heavily damaged and had to be towed away.
Elroy volunteer firefighters assisted in directing traffic.
A 6-year-old girl was killed early Monday when her mother started to cross the busy, four-lane divided highway at the same intersection. Her southbound car collided with an eastbound oil tanker truck. The crash remained under investigation. The little girl, Nikita Pearson of New Hope Road, was buried Friday.
Hours later on Monday, another wreck at the intersection resulted in an injured driver and $14,000 in damages. The injured driver was charged with a yield violation after her northbound auto collided with an eastbound car.
Earlier Friday afternoon, Highway Patrol 1st Sgt. T.L. McLeod was asked by a News-Argus reporter how many wrecks had occurred at the intersection. He said he would try to find out, but he speculated that at least 10 had happened in the last year. After Friday's collision he suggested that the number might even be higher.