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Tractor-trailer loses breaks; three injured (continued) |
Drivers of a Ford Thunderbird (above) and a Ford Aspire miraculously escaped serious injury when their cars were partially crushed by a tractor-trailer during a six-vehicle accident Friday. |
Treated and released at the hospital were Karen Delores Smith, 29, of Cullowhee, and Angela Marie Williams, 23, of Roanoke, Va., a graduate student at Western Carolina University.
The tractor-trailer was hauling 68,000 pounds of baled cardboard headed for Jackson Paper Manufacturing, which is in sight of the accident scene. David Bulco, 42, of Waynesville, was driving the rig for Burris Trucking Co. of Waynesville. Woodard said Bulco applied his brakes as he came down the hill near Sylva Plaza on 23 Business, but rather than slowing down he realized he was "picking up speed." The officer estimated Bulco was traveling 45 mph as he approached the Main Street intersection in the right lane to turn toward downtown. The traffic light was green for Main Street traffic leaving two cars stopped at the yield sign waiting to turn right in front of the truck. The tractor-trailer plowed into the back of a 1994 Ford Escort driven by Smith. Her car was knocked through the median and into Maney's 1995 Ford Thunderbird, which was westbound on Main Street. The Thunderbird then hit a 1999 Chevrolet van, which was waiting to turn left from Main Street onto 23 Business. The van was driven by 21-year-old Michael Allen Norman of Sylva. Finally, the Escort struck a 1989 Oldsmobile driven by Catherine Nichols Adams, 48, of Robbinsville. That vehicle was also waiting to turn left onto 23 Business from Main Street. |
It took three wreckers to lift a tractor-trailer off two cars in the aftermath of Friday's six-vehicle accident at the Business 23/N.C. 107 intersection. Traffic, tied up for more than four hours, was detoured onto Skyland Drive, Harold Street and Chipper Curve Road. |
Meanwhile, after striking the Escort, the truck hit the back of a 1997 Ford Aspire driven by Williams. Her car had been in front of the Escort at the yield sign.
As the truck continued its turn onto Main Street, it also struck the Thunderbird. The truck carried the Thunderbird and Aspire across the highway and turned over on those cars, partially crushing them in front of the old Cagle and Son Ford dealership. Sylva Fire Department members employed by Jackson Paper used company equipment to unload the truck's cargo before it could be uprighted by three large wreckers. A reconstructionist from the State Highway Patrol and an officer from the Department of Motor Vehicles assisted in the investigation. Woodard praised all agencies involved for working well together and making the operation go as smooth as possible. In addition to the Police Department, SHP and DMV, agencies included the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, Sylva Fire Department, Jackson County Rescue Squad and WestCare EMS. Charges in the accident are pending, Woodard said. |
Back to Archive: 02/17/00. |