Trending Topics

Driver bypasses roadblock, goes down gorge along N.C. interstate

Highway patrol officials said the fatal crash is the most egregious breach of the roadblock they have dealt with since the I-40 closure

JunaluskaFireDepartment.jpg

Junaluska Fire Department/Facebook

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.

©2024 The Charlotte Observer.
Visit charlotteobserver.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


Haywood County Emergency Services is relying on first responders in Tennessee as I-40 is closed for repairs
Trending
Community members and first responders lined the route as Smith’s body was flown to Red Bluff and continued by ground procession after she died from injuries in the Highway 50 medevac crash
Merced County supervisors voted unanimously to award the EMS contract to American Medical Response, saying Riggs met response standards only six months in five years
After an anonymous post urged people to aim lasers at helicopters near Portland’s South Waterfront ICE facility, medevacs avoided Oregon Health & Science University’s hospital helipad
Redlands City Council opted against a measure to boost the paramedic tax despite a projected $130K gap