By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. — The driver who crashed to her death on a closed section of Interstate 40 was followed for miles by a state trooper trying to stop her, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials told McClatchy News .
Investigators still do not know where 62-year-old Patricia Ann Mahoney of Southern Pines was going when she bypassed a roadblock and began driving west in the eastbound lanes.
The crash happened at about 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 , when she “drove off Interstate 40 from a large hole in the roadway” near the Tennessee state line, officials said. That hole was caused by a landslide that claimed multiple lanes of the interstate.
Mahoney’s vehicle rolled 100 feet down the gorge and was found on its passenger side, teetering at the edge of the Pigeon River , first responders reported.
She was pulled from the SUV by a trooper, and first responders from area fire departments used a system of ropes to lift her out of the gorge, the Junaluska Fire Department reported.
Mahoney lived long enough to be taken to a hospital, state officials said.
An autopsy is scheduled Wednesday, Nov. 13 , at Johnson City Medical Center to determine a cause of death, the highway patrol said.
The crash happened near mile marker 3, in an area that was closed in late September after Tropical Storm Helene “washed away the interstate’s eastbound lanes in four long swaths,” the N.C. Department of Transportation reported.
A state trooper has been stationed around the clock at mile marker 7 in North Carolina to watch for drivers bypassing barricades, and one such trooper saw Mahoney drive by his patrol car, state officials said.
The trooper called in the incident and “was behind her attempting to get her to stop” for more than 3 miles, officials said. He witnessed the crash and called for emergency medical aid.
Highway patrol officials said the incident counts as the most egregious breach of the roadblock they have dealt with since the closure was put in place.
A temporary fix opening one intestate lane in both directions is expected to be in place by New Year’s Day, officials said.
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