Three people died in separate crashes during weekend snowstorm in NC
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State Highway Patrol reports three fatal vehicle crashes during weekend snowstorm in NC.
- Collision on US 74: pickup struck DOT-contracted motor grader, driver killed.
- Pickup driver died; three passengers suffered serious but nonfatal injuries.
Three people died after vehicle collisions during the weekend snowstorm that blanketed the state from the mountains to the coast, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Here’s what we know about what happened, according to the Highway Patrol.
Driver in Rutherford County hits motor grader
Saturday night in Rutherford County at around 7:40 p.m., state troopers responded to a crash on eastbound U.S. 74 near an exit to Ellenboro. The Highway Patrol’s initial investigation showed that the driver of a Chevrolet pickup truck, Brandon Akins, “failed to see a motor grader that was traveling partially in the right lane performing snow removal.”
The truck hit the back of the motor grader, pinning Akins, 55, of Forest City. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other people in the truck had serious, but not life-threatening injuries, according to the Highway Patrol.
The motor grader was from Strickland Grading, contracted by the N.C. Department of Transportation for snow removal.
Vehicle overturns in Robeson County
Troopers responded just after midnight on Sunday to a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 south near the 23-mile marker.
The vehicle driven by Jose Adolfo Urbina Rivera, 64, of Hampton, Virginia, traveled off the road on the right side, overturned and was submerged in a ditch, a spokesperson for Highway Patrol said in an email. There weren’t any passengers in the car.
The Highway Patrol’s synopsis also said that “at the time of the collision there was a significant amount of snow falling in addition to the snow that had accumulated on the roadway. The driver was operating the vehicle at a speed greater than reasonable and prudent under the conditions.”
Vehicle overturns in creek in Cherokee County
On Sunday night around 7 p.m., state troopers responded to a collision on N.C. 294 in Cherokee County near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.
A vehicle driven by Robert Edward Walker, 57, of Murphy, traveled off the snow-covered road and overturned in a creek. The synopsis adds that “the driver was operating the vehicle at a speed greater than reasonable and prudent under the conditions.”
