Two vehicles collided in an early morning crash at N.C. 152 and Old Concord Road, N.C. Highway Patrol says, because of outages from Wednesday night’s storm.
The storm knocked out power to traffic lights at that intersection and resulted in the two people, Justin Izzard of Wisconsin and James Wright of Rockwell, hitting each other.
Izzard, 31, was traveling north on Old Concord Road in a Dodge Charger, and Wright, 28, was traveling west on N.C. 152 in a Ford pickup, said N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper C.T. Walker. The incident occurred at 6:11 a.m. and was under control just before 10 a.m.
The pickup hit the light pole, overturned onto its side and tore down the stop lights there, Walker said. When the truck overturned it also hit another parked vehicle in the parking lot at a service station in front of Bostian Heights Fire Department. Neither driver was injured and managed to get out of their vehicles on their own, he said.
The trooper said power to nearby Carson High School was not affected by the accident, but rather the previous night’s storm.
The damaged pole, which belongs to N.C. Department of Transportation, will have to be replaced. The damage to the pole did not affect any other power outages, Walker said.
According to Walker, who spoke with DOT officials, it will take much of the day to deliver a new pole and erect the pole. DOT workers remain at the intersection, directing traffic.
Both drivers were heading to work. The two men were checked out by emergency personnel on the scene. There are no charges. In addition to the Highway Patrol, Bostian Heights Fire and Rowan EMS responded to the incident.