SUV flips, killing driver
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on February 3, 2006 1:51 PM
A Goldsboro man was killed Thursday afternoon when his sport utility vehicle ran off Country Day Road, tore a utility pole in half and crashed through a brick wall.
David Howard Higgs, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Todd Anderson, headmaster at Wayne Country Day School, said he and several faculty members were outside the school when they saw a burgundy Chevrolet Blazer passing the school at a high rate of speed.
"This guy was clearly going way too fast. He just lost control," Anderson said.
Anderson and other witnesses said the vehicle began swerving, then flipped over and continued rolling.
"The car went into the air and it looked like a motion picture," Anderson said.
The SUV struck a telephone pole and smashed through a brick wall surrounding the Garden Walk residential community. Higgs was thrown from the vehicle.
Elida Eason, director of admissions at the school, also witnessed the accident.
"I've never seen anything like it," she said.
Baseball coach Michael Taylor said he called 911 as they ran to the wreckage. Efforts to revive Higgs failed, Anderson said.
"We tried to help him, but he was already dead," Anderson said. "We couldn't get any air into him."
Anderson said the accident could have been worse. It happened only a short while before students were dismissed, he said.
"In another 40 minutes, this could've been a disaster," he said.
Police investigators said they had notified Higgs' family and that a complete accident report would not be ready for several days.
Dr. Thomas Carraway said Higgs worked for him as a live-in caretaker for Carraway's mother, Sarah. He also worked as a part-time accountant, Carraway said.
"We're all heartbroken and in shock," Carraway said today. He said Higgs had left their house on Spring Street to go buy cigarettes and was driving the Carraway family vehicle at the time of the accident.
Earlier, Carraway said his mother had asked Higgs to allow her to accompany him if he left the house.
His mother was asleep at the time Higgs decided to go the store, and he did not wake her, Carraway said.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Services will be held in Atlanta.