Stopped traffic on a slick highway leads to fatal 53-vehicle pileup on I-40
What started with a couple of collisions just beyond the merge of Interstates 40 and 85 in Orange County resulted in a series of crashes that killed one person and closed I-40 for nearly nine hours Wednesday.
The State Highway Patrol counted 12 separate collisions involving 53 cars and trucks. In the worst crash, a tractor trailer truck slammed into the back of a car, killing the driver, 78-year-old Jerolyn Day Wilson of Burlington, the HIghway Patrol said.
The truck driver, William Crowell Kellam of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and exceeding a safe speed for conditions. Kellam, 44, was released with a promise to appear in court.
The crashes occurred about 3 p.m. as snow was still falling and the road was slick. The collisions on I-40/85 had brought traffic to a stop on westbound I-40, a couple of miles beyond the Old N.C. 86 interchange. Approaching cars and trucks were unable to stop in time, setting off the series of crashes.
Westbound I-40 was not reopened until just before midnight.
The Orange County crash was among more than 1,100 collisions that the State Highway Patrol alone responded to on Wednesday. Troopers also answered another 700 calls for assistance.
