Teens recovering after scooter struck by car
By Lee Williams
Published in News on July 13, 2007 1:45 PM
Four Wayne County teens are recovering from severe injuries they received Tuesday when a car struck the back of their motor scooter on U.S. 117 South.
Christopher Nelson, 18, of Mount Olive, was traveling on U.S. 117 South on his motorbike with three passengers when a car driven by Henry Allen, 45, of Dudley, struck him from behind at 11:38 p.m., according to a Highway Patrol report. Passengers Jonathan Gurley, 17, Lee Powell, 15, and Kathy King, 15, all of Goldsboro, and Nelson, the driver, were thrown from the bike, Trooper J.D. Edwards said.
Nelson was the only one wearing a helmet, Edwards said. Each of the teens were seriously injured.
Wayne County EMS transported the teens to Wayne Memorial Hospital. Gurley and Powell were later transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville for treatment.
Nelson has since been released from Wayne Memorial Hospital.
Allen was not injured.
Nelson said he realizes riding with four people on a scooter is not safe.
"I did have too many people on the scooter," Nelson said when reached at his Mount Olive home.
"All I remember is waking up on the side of the road and seeing my friends lying there, and I said 'Check my friends, check my friends,'" Nelson said.
Nelson was cited for operating an overcrowded vehicle. Allen was not cited.