Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994 TAG: 9403230038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The truck driver, Randall Dye of Giles County, was charged with driving a vehicle with faulty brakes, Roanoke Police Lt. R.A. Bower said.
Kathryn F. Scott, 49, was listed in critical condition at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Her daughter, Sarah, 19, is listed in satisfactory condition, according to a hospital nursing supervisor.
A dozen or so rescue personnel worked for about 1 1/2 hours to free Kathryn Scott, who remained conscious.
"I was trying to keep her calm, explaining to her everything that was going on," said Kenny Campbell, with the Roanoke Fire Department. "If you don't, they get all excited."
He squeezed into the back seat and held Scott's head and neck still while workers pried the doors and roof off. Campbell also kept tabs on her condition.
"She said she was having trouble breathing and her leg hurt," he said. Rescue workers gave Scott oxygen and intravenous fluid.
"I don't know how long I was in there. A long time," Campbell said.
The accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m. at U.S. 220 and Crossbow Circle, across from Hunting Hills Plaza.
Bower said Scott had a green light and was making a left turn from the shopping center, heading south. The trucker was northbound on 220 on a downgrade, and was trying to stop, Bower said.
The tractor-trailer struck Scott's car and pushed it 30 or 40 yards across the southbound lanes, sideswiping two other vehicles before crashing into the dirt bank on the southbound shoulder.
"I went over to the middle of the intersection to keep from hitting that lady," Dye said at the accident scene. "I tried everything I could to get that lady's attention."
Dye, 42, was heading from North Carolina to West Virginia with a load of rock, he said. He was driving a truck he said was owned by E.L. Hale of Dublin, in Pulaski County.
A woman who answered the phone at the residence of Euel Lee Hale Sr. in Dublin said: "We will not discuss it with the press. Our insurance is handling it."
Cindy Collins was waiting at the stoplight and saw the crash.
"You could hear him blowing his horn, he was just laying on his horn," she said.
Debby Rattenbury was waiting to turn into the Wal-Mart plaza when she saw the truck headed straight for her, she said. Scott's car hit hers, spun hers around and pushed hers into the car behind it, driven by Tina Yearout.
"I just put both feet on the brake. I was getting ready to jump out," Yearout said.
by CNB