
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 18, 1993                   TAG: 9308180186
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIG STONE GAP                                LENGTH: Short

13 INJURED WHEN MOTORIST HITS VAN FOR HANDICAPPED

Thirteen people were injured, one critically, when a car rounding a curve crossed the center line and crashed into a van carrying handicapped people to work Tuesday, state police said.

The accident happened about 8:15 a.m. on U.S. 58A in Lee County about eight miles southwest of Big Stone Gap, Virginia State Police Trooper J.P. Flanary said.

The car was traveling about 50 mph when it struck the van, Flanary said. The van overturned and skidded along the highway.

Flanary said it was foggy when the vehicles crashed, but it appeared that the fog was not low enough to hinder visibility.

The driver of the car, Sandra K. Lowe, 37, of Big Stone Gap, was unconscious when the trooper arrived. She was taken by helicopter to Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport, Tenn., where she was listed in critical condition.

The van, operated by Mountain Empire Older Citizens Inc., was picking up handicapped workers who live near the two-lane highway that cuts through the Appalachians along the Powell River.

Most of the passengers were mentally handicapped clients of Developmental Services Inc. who work at a greenhouse in Big Stone Gap, officials said.

The driver of the van, Barbara Bailey Ashburn, 55, of Pennington Gap, suffered cuts and bruises, said Dennis Horton, deputy director of Mountain Empire.

The 10 van passengers and the passenger in the car also had minor injuries, Flanary said. They were taken to Lee County Community Hospital in Pennington Gap and to Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap.

Flanary said he didn't expect charges would be filed.

by CNB