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Joshua Snow, 21, of Maggie Valley was airlifted to Mission-St. Joseph's after the 7:15 a.m. wreck Monday near Balsam. As of Tuesday morning, he was listed in fair condition.
Trooper Denny Wood said Snow was traveling west at a high rate of speed in a 1997 Ford Ranger when he lost control, went into the grass median, came back across the road and "commenced barrel rolling." He said the vehicle rolled eight times before coming to rest on its top 146 feet up an embankment.
Snow, who Wood said was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and landed in the highway's ditch line.
No other vehicles were involved, and charges are pending.
Cora McGuire, 17, of Too How Road, Whittier, and Madeline Carnathan, 70, of Pine Creek Road, Cullowhee, were both taken to Highlands-Cashiers Hospital then transferred to Mission-St. Joseph's following last Thursday's wreck in Glenville. As of Tuesday morning, Carnathan was listed in critical condition with McGuire in serious condition.
The accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. on N.C. 107 near Pine Creek Road.
According to a report filed by Trooper Brian Parker, Carnathan was traveling north on 107 in a 2001 Dodge passenger car when she crossed the center line and struck McGuire's southbound 1989 Chevrolet passenger car head-on.
A third vehicle, a 1994 Isuzu sport utility vehicle, driven by Krista Taylor, 28, of Buckle Drive, Cashiers, was traveling north behind the Carnathan vehicle. The report said the Isuzu struck the Dodge in the rear. Taylor was not injured.
Charges are pending.
The accident occurred at almost the same spot where 17-year-old Jennifer Boucher of Glenville was killed in a wreck five days earlier. In that accident, Boucher was thrown from a 1995 Ford Escort being driven by Jonathan Ray Logan, 19, of Glenville.
Trooper Derek Robinson said the Escort ran off the right side of the road striking the guardrail then crossed the highway and hit the guardrail on the other side. Logan was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle.
Trixie Tramper, a 3-month-old from Cherokee, was admitted to Harris Regional after the 5:40 p.m. June 5 wreck near Whittier. A hospital representative said she was released the next day.
A report filed by Trooper Jeff Womack showed Nancy Michelle Walk, 21, of Hoot Owl Cove Road, Cherokee, was traveling east when she lost control of her 1995 Chevrolet passenger car on wet pavement. The vehicle went through the grass median and into the westbound lanes where it struck a 1997 Plymouth van being driven by Omar Lopez, 35, of Bryson City.
Wike said Trixie Tramper was ejected from the vehicle although the child seat she was in remained in the car.
Walk and another passenger, 2-year-old Alyssa Tramper, were treated and released at Harris Regional. No one in the Lopez vehicle was injured.
Walk was charged with driving left of center.
Wike said the top five roads for accidents in the county are N.C. 107, U.S. 23, U.S. 74, U.S. 64 and N.C. 116.
During May, there were 17 accidents on 107 from Burger King in Sylva to the South Carolina line. Only five were reported in the same period last year.
U.S. 23 from Balsam to Cowee saw accidents increase from six in May 2001 to 11 this past May.
Wike said the other three roads are running about equal to a year ago.
Injuries were up 13 percent from 204 to 231 in the first five months of this year compared to the same time in 2001. Fatalities increased from there to four.
"This area is increasing in its popularity for tourism, but we haven't been able to single out what's causing the increase," Wike said. "I have to speculate it's a disregard for driving safely and within the law. We're going to have to be sure we're having the enforcement we need where the wrecks are happening, especially on 107 in the Tuckasegee and Glenville areas.
The accident statistics do not cover the Sylva city limits and Western Carolina University campus, which are covered by police departments.
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Joshua Snow, 21, of Maggie Valley was airlifted to Mission-St. Joseph's Hospital following an accident Monday morning on U.S. 23-74 near Balsam. Trooper Denny Wood said he was traveling west in a 1997 Ford Ranger at a high rate of speed when he lost control. The Ranger overturned eight times before coming to rest on its top 146 feet up an embankment in the yard of Judy Matthews, who took this picture after the vehicle had been righted.