I-795 reopens after two-tractor trailers collide
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 7, 2017 12:22 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
I-795 South was blocked at mile marker 18 for about eight hours after two tractor-trailers wreck.
I-795 South was blocked near mile marker 18 for about eight hours and one man is in the hospital with serious injuries after two tractor-trailers collided today around 2:45 a.m.
Sgt. Michael Dorsey with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Alvin Simson, 60, of Los Angeles, was trucking a load of solar panels from New Jersey to Dudley.
Simson then reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, drifted off the road and into the median. His big rig flipped, completely blocking the southbound lane of I-795.
Dorsey said Simson was able to crawl out of the rig shortly after it flipped. Dorsey said Timothy Gibson, 59, of Cheraw, South Carolina, was also heading south, when he came up on Simson's rig after it flipped and blocked the highway and could not stop in time.
Gibson's tractor-trailer collided with Simson's. Dorsey said Gibson was taken to Wayne UNC Health Care with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
The southbound lane of the highway remains closed at this time. State troopers have set up a detour at exit 18 on the southbound side to route traffic off of the interstate while crews work to clear the road.
Dorsey said Simson was charged with careless and reckless driving.
I-795 reopened at about 10:58 a.m. today.