Driver in serious condition after crash
By Lee Williams
Published in News on February 8, 2007 1:53 PM
A woman was sent to the hospital with serious injuries after a one-vehicle accident on Elm Street and Berkeley Boulevard Wednesday.
Telecia Gail Cameron, 35, of Courtyard Circle, was traveling east on Elm at about 3 p.m. when she veered off the road to the right near the entrance of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Goldsboro police Sgt. Trey Ball said.
In one continuous motion, Ms. Cameron's white Mercury traveled forward, struck and knocked down a utility pole and sent a string of traffic lights crashing to the ground.
After knocking down a street sign and bending back a stop sign, Ms. Cameron's car proceeded through the intersection at Berkeley and Elm, crossed the median, jumped the curve on Berkeley and stopped at a brown fence.
A bystander rushed over and pulled Ms. Cameron from her car and attempted to administer first aid. No other passengers were in the car.
Goldsboro police and firefighters, Wayne County Emergency Medical Services and Fire and Rescue personnel from the Air Force Base rushed to the accident and jumped in to render aid to Ms. Cameron.
Ms. Cameron might have fallen ill just seconds before the accident.
"We're looking at whether she had a medical emergency," Ball said.
A witness said he saw Ms. Cameron slumped over and appeared to be unconscious a few seconds before she struck the utility pole.
Ms. Cameron was taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital for treatment of serious injuries, Ball said. She was later transferred to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville for further treatment, officials said.
Frank Rabey, a hospital spokesman at Pitt Hospital, said Thursday morning that Ms. Cameron was in critical condition.
Traffic was blocked and rerouted for several hours while the city police department's reconstruction team went to work taking measurements and marking various locations with spray paint.
N.C. Department of Transportation workers also were called in to replace the battered pole.
The aftermath of the accident caused headaches for dozens of drivers who were sent scrambling to find other ways to enter the Air Force base, or get to work or home.
The accident is still under investigation, Ball said. It's unclear what caused the accident or if the driver will be cited, he added.