Driver killed in head-on crash
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on June 20, 2006 1:50 PM
A woman was killed this morning aboaut 9 a.m. when a two-ton truck crossed the center line on Claridge Nursery Road and hit her vehicle head-on, troopers with the state Highway Patrol said.
The driver of the truck, an unidentified Hispanic man, was being treated at Wayne Memorial Hospital for minor injuries sustained in the crash. Patrol Sgt. Will Thurston said after treatment, the man will be taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of death by motor vehicle. Other charges might be filed later, he added.
The woman, identified only as "a middle-aged, black female," was traveling eastbound in her white Chevrolet Blazer when the truck ran off the shoulder of the southbound lane. According to the accident report, the truck driver attempted to get back in his lane, overcorrected and crossed the center line.
In an attempt to avoid a collision, the woman then pulled on to the eastbound shoulder, troopers said, but it was no use. The truck hit the driver side of her SUV head-on, pushing it into a ditch.
"It looks like she went off the shoulder to try to avoid him," Thurston said. "That's where he hit her."
First responders on the scene included Rosewood and Little River Volunteer Fire departments, Wayne Count Emergency Management Services, state Highway Patrol and the Department of Transportation.
Just after 9, fire fighters used a ram and cutters to remove the woman from the wreckage. She was pronounced dead by officials on the scene.
The woman's identity will remain anonymous until her family has been notified, troopers said.