Two North Carolina Tractor Trailer Accidents Cause Fatalities

Two separate tractor trailer accidents in the mountain region of North Carolina have claimed a total of 4 lives since Friday.

The first tractor trailer accident happened on Friday around 6 p.m. This accident which occurred on Hwy. 421 west of Wilkesboro, NC and claimed the life of 2 men and 1 woman. The release from North Carolina Highway patrol lists the victims as Thomas Cameron Simon, George Wesley Wiggins, and Mary E. Wiggins. A fourth person in the Chevy Avalanche, Cheryle Cotter Simon, is listed in critical condition at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, NC.

The avalanche that fatally injured the above mentioned 3 was hit head on by a tractor trailer being driven by Curtis Isaac Mondy from Florida. Authorities are saying the Mondy crossed the center line, overturned and hit the Chevy being driven by Thomas Cameron Simon head on.

Curtis Mondy was charged with reckless driving and 3 counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle. He was being held on a $6,000 bond in Wilkes County, NC.

The second tractor trailer accident since Friday happened Monday morning on Hwy. 421 between Vilas and Zionville, North Carolina at around 7:30 a.m. This accident involved 1 tractor trailer and multiply cars. This accident claimed 1 life. It is not being reported as of yet exactly how many cars where involved, or who was at fault in this accident.

It is well known to locals of the dangers on this portion of highway. This particular accident happened just passed a county owned container site and before a local gas station named Valley Grocery. Traffic was backed up in both directions for miles until authorities started to re-route traffic on back roads. This in itself started to cause problems due to the small back roads, and the size of some of the vehicles trying to drive them.

Last year just around the corner from this mornings accident there was another car accident that claimed the life of a local teen.

This corner has come to see many accidents and been known to cause a few accidents with people not familiar with the road. The turn into the county owned container site is on the other side of this turn. With traffic moving 55 m.p.h or faster negotiating this stop for people turning left can be very difficult at times. There is no word as of yet if this mornings chain reaction happened from a reason like this.

Reports thus far also have not mentioned how many local authorities were called to the scene, however my 8 year old and I counted 2 Watauga Sheriffs Deputies, 4 North Carolina Highway Patrols, 1 Fire Truck, 3 or 4 Volunteer Firemen and Medics, 2 ambulances, 1 Wrecker, 1 Rescue Truck with equipment only, and numerous other volunteer personnel before we turned around to head for one of the many back roads heading to his school. The roads are blocked from Valley Grocery at Tater Hill, up to Walls Drive on Highway 421. Some of the back roads that were being used for traffic also became blocked due to large trucks that were trying to move through.

Officials have stated that if you must drive to please use alternate routes until this crash can be completely cleared and investigated. If you really do not need to be in the area take my advice and stay home.

UPDATE:

Cause of the accident on Hwy 421 between Vilas and Zionville, North Carolina was caused when Marshall Hopper of Zionville fell asleep at the wheel of his Nissan Xterra, crossing the center line and hitting a Chevrolet driven by William Isaacs of Zionville. The Cheverolet was spun around and pushed into on-coming traffic where Mr. Isaacs car was then hit by a tractor trailer/log truck being driven by Billy Staley. Mr. Isaacs car became pinned against a guard rail, and he had to be extracted from his vehicle. Mr. William Isaacs was pronounced dead at the early morning accident scene. Charges are pending against Marshall Hopper at this time, according to North Carolina Highway Patrol.