No serious accidents from ice
By John Joyce
Published in News on February 18, 2015 1:46 PM
The number of accidents reported on city and county roads spiked only slightly over the last two days as Goldsboro and Wayne County have been inundated with ice and frigid temperatures.
The state Highway Patrol responded to 24 calls for service midnight to midnight Tuesday, First Sgt. Jerry Burton said.
Most of the havoc ended by early evening.
"Yesterday we were busy up until about 7 p.m., then it all seemed to stop," Burton said.
The most significant incident came when six vehicles ran off the road at once on U.S. Highway 70 West in front of the El-Roy Fire Department, Burton said.
No one was injured.
"I don't recall a single personal injury call all day yesterday," he said.
During the last 48 hours, the patrol responded to more than 2,000 calls for service statewide.
State Highway Patrol public information officer Lt. Jeff Gordon said those calls were mainly single-car collisions and stranded motorists.
"There was only one weather-related fatality, that occurred in Hertford County," he said.
Locally, the Goldsboro Police Department responded to a total of 10 crashes in the past 48 hours, only five of which were weather related.
Maj. Michael West said the wrecks were all single-vehicle collisions involving overpasses.
"Just drivers losing control on slick streets and black ice patches," he said.
No major injuries were reported.
"They were all property damage only," West said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office encountered a few wrecks as well.
"There were a lot of cars in the ditch on U.S. Highway 70 East," Maj. Tom Effler said.
The sheriff's office does not routinely investigate motor vehicle wrecks, he said.
"We've had very few responses to wrecks or to help people who have slid off the road," he added.