Truck clips overhead lines on New Hope Road
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 4, 2016 10:48 AM
A tractor-trailer clipped an overhead cable or telephone line and pulled the lines down on top of the rig Thursday afternoon, blocking traffic in both directions at 737 E. New Hope Road.
Corey Bernard Sutton, of Kinston, was driving the 18-wheeler for ABF Freight System, Inc., and made a right turn off of Newsome Road onto East New Hope Road.
The top of the bed of his rig clipped what authorities say was either a cable or telephone line and began dragging the lines down as he rolled forward.
North Carolina Highway Patrolman J.S. Smith said Sutton would not be charged -- the fault for the wreck lies with whomever ran the lines, as they were lower than they should have been, he said.
"He didn't realize he had clipped the lines," Smith said. "When you've got a rig that heavy you aren't going to realize if there are lines tugging on it."
Sutton had just made a delivery to a house in the subdivision Newsome Road connects with prior to the accident, Smith said.
Firefighters with New Hope Fire Department blocked and rerouted traffic down side roads while authorities worked to clear the scene.
Traffic was blocked and rerouted for approximately one hour.
A lineman with Duke Energy arrived on scene around 2:45 p.m. and began to cut the lines away from the truck to free up the rig.
The downed lines did not belong to Duke Energy.
The scene was cleared around 3:20 p.m. Thursday.