Truck driver dead in Friday night accident
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 5, 2013 10:40 PM
A 43-year-old Seven Springs man driving a truck containing a load of turkeys was killed at the scene of a one-vehicle accident shortly after 9 p.m. Friday.
The N.C. Highway Patrol said speed was a contributing factor in the accident that claimed the life of Jimmy Ray Smith and destroyed the truck.
It happened on the outskirts of Mount Olive, near the intersection of Garner Chapel Church Road and Bethel Road, said Trooper Curtis Tripp.
"He was traveling east on Garner Chapel Church Road, failed to negotiate the curve, traveling off the right shoulder," he said. "The vehicle overturned completely and pinned him under it."
Smith said the truck, containing about 1,000 turkeys, was contracted to Goldsboro Milling Company.
He said "several turkeys" died, but did not have an estimate of damages in the incident.
Pleasant Grove and Oak Wolfe volunteer fire departments responded to the scene.