Woman, 41, stable after highway crash Friday
By Gary Popp
Published in News on May 1, 2011 1:50 AM
A woman's car landed upside down in a wooded area along U.S. 70 East near Walnut Creek Friday after the vehicle left the road and flipped end over end.
Tammy Sutton Spencer, 41, the 1999 Buick Regal's only passenger, was in stable condition at Wayne Memorial Hospital Saturday evening.
The vehicle left the road, traveled about 40 yards in the grass and hit a concrete covert, which caused it to flip.
Officials on the scene said if the vehicle had not struck the covert, it could have landed in a nearby creek.
N.C. Highway Trooper J.T. Creech said driver inattention was the cause of the crash.
Creech said Ms. Spencer was traveling the posted speed limit of 55 mph when her vehicle left the road.
He added that the tire tracks on the grass showed no sign Ms. Spencer attempted to redirect the vehicle back onto the highway.
Kelly Nelson, of Lenoir County, was on her way to Goldsboro with her mother when she witnessed Ms. Spencer's car leave the highway and crash into the woods.
Ms. Nelson said she was impressed with the concern of citizens who stopped to try and help and the work of the emergency responders.
"They have done an excellent job of getting right on in there," Ms. Nelson said as she stood on the side of the highway watching firefighters and EMS extract Mrs. Sutton from the woods on a stretcher.
"I am so blessed to know they are looking over us," Ms. Nelson said. "That could have been me and my kids."
Responding agencies included the state Highway Patrol, Elroy Volunteer Fire Department and Wayne County EMS.
Ms. Spencer has been charged with failure to maintain lane control.