Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510230160
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"The road didn't play a factor in this accident," said Trooper C.L. Mumpower. "Definitely poor judgment" did.
The accident occurred when a car driven by 18-year-old Joel Roop of Dublin pulled across the double yellow lines on Virginia 114 (Peppers Ferry Road) to pass another car. Roop's car slammed into a car driven by Eric Taylor, 20, a Radford University student.
Both drivers and a passenger in Taylor's car, Ronald Leonard, 22, of Bristol, Tenn., died.
Roop was headed west toward Dublin, Taylor east toward Christiansburg.
The impact knocked Taylor's car off Peppers Ferry Road and into a front yard at its intersection with Virginia 812 (Centerville Circle), just east of the main entrance to the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. It sent a shower of shattered glass into the path of the car Roop had just passed. The lack of skid or slide marks on the pavement indicated that Taylor had no time to react.
"There's nothing he could have done to avoid the collision," Mumpower said. "As far as what I can tell, he didn't even know what was coming."
Taylor died at the scene. He had four passengers, including Leonard, who turned 22 weeks ago.
Roop died at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he had been flown by helicopter following the crash.
Roop had been drinking alcohol, Mumpower said. "It definitely had some kind of impact in the accident; I don't know how much," the trooper said. "He wasn't dog drunk, but it did play a factor," perhaps in his poor judgment.
Mumpower would not release Roop's blood-alcohol content pending completion of the toxicology report. He also said he is continuing to investigate why Roop was trying to pass the third car just a few hundred yards from where two-lane Peppers Ferry Road widens to four lanes.
Roop's passenger, 17-year-old Timothy Miller of Radford, was discharged Sunday from Radford Community Hospital.
Taylor's other passengers were:
Matthew Bossert, 20, of Blacksburg, who was in the rear seat. He was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital, then flown to Roanoke Memorial. He was in very serious condition Sunday evening.
Sini Downing, 19, of Blacksburg, also in the rear. She was flown to Roanoke Memorial and was in serious condition Sunday.
Scott A. Strain, 22, who was in the front seat. He was in stable condition Sunday at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Strain lives in Roanoke but is from Brewster, N.Y., Mumpower said. The car belongs to Strain's father.
Mumpower said none of the seven people involved in the wreck appeared to have been wearing a seat belt. Both cars were knocked off the road. Virginia 114 was blocked by rescue and fire vehicles for nearly two hours. Fire and rescue workers had to cut open the crumpled cars to free some of the victims, including Downing, who was the last living person extricated.
Saturday's crash is the worst on Peppers Ferry Road since a 60-year-old Dublin woman and a 47-year-old Radford minister died in separate collisions in November and December of last year. Residents have said for years that the road needs to be widened along its full length, not just from Fairlawn in Pulaski County to the Radford arsenal. Though the state has plans to widen one mile of Peppers Ferry Road between U.S. 460 and the Christiansburg town limit in 1998, expanding the remaining 4.5-mile stretch to the arsenal entrance remains a long-term project.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB