Staff report
Seven wrecks in about a two-mile stretch of Interstate 85 had Highway Patrol troopers busy Saturday evening.
The worst involved two box trucks sandwiching a Honda Accord, leaving the driver in critical condition after being airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center’s main branch in Charlotte.
Trooper A.M. Miller said heavy rainstorms in the area near the rest area in Cabarrus County slowed traffic in the southbound lane. One truck and the Honda driven by Johnnie Medley, 50, were stopped when another truck driven by Terry Ross of Chester, S.C., crashed into the Accord from behind.
Miller said Medley was in critical but stable condition, with non-life threatening injuries.
“It’s a miracle she wasn’t killed,” he said, noting how the back bumper was pushed so far up into the vehicle that if any other passengers were inside, they likely wouldn’t have survived.
Ross was charged with careless and reckless driving, Miller said. Ross had minor injuries, including a broken hand.
Miller wasn’t sure of the details on the other wrecks, but it definitely wasn’t a pleasant night to be traveling that stretch of interstate.
“It was bad,” he said.
It took about an hour and half to clear the southbound lanes of the interstate for traffic.