THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607040591
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER MCMENAMIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: 80 lines
Three people remained hospitalized on Wednesday night after an afternoon two-car crash near the Oasis Seafood Restaurant on the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway.
The vacationers - Charles Edward Oney, 72, of Columbus, Ohio, and his granddaughter, Katie Anna Ewing, 11, of Worthington, Ohio - were flown to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital by helicopter.
As of Wednesday night, Oney was in serious condition in the hospital's Burn Trauma Unit.
His granddaughter was transferred to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk, where her condition was unavailable.
Three others were injured in the crash.
Police said it was the first serious accident of a July 4th weekend that is expected to draw a record number of visitors to the Outer Banks.
Authorities anticipate a full-capacity crowd of 160,000 people from Corolla to Ocracoke - the largest since 1988.
``All the hotels and motels are booked for every day except Sunday night,'' said Angie Brady-Daniels of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce. The only lodging still available, she said, is in large houses that can accommodate 10 to 16 people.
Nags Head Police Chief Charles Cameron said reviews of past Independence Day holiday traffic indicate that more and more visitors choose the Outer Banks as the spot to watch fireworks, hit the beach and celebrate the nation's birthday.
Wednesday's heavy traffic, he said, reflected that trend.
Rebecca Moore of the Dare County Tourist Bureau said last weekend's traffic count broke all previous Outer Banks records of travel in a single weekend.
With increased traffic comes increased probability of accidents, Cameron said.
``Certainly the possibility of accidents always increases with more vehicles using the same amount of roads,'' Cameron said. ``Unfortunately, in the last four or five weeks, we've had some very serious accidents.
``Today was just another example of a serious accident with serious injuries that we responded to well,'' the chief added.
Nags Head Police Officer Paul Terry said Wednesday's accident happened this way:
Oney - driving a white 1986 Lincoln Town Car - was turning left onto the causeway from the Oasis Seafood Restaurant to head east on the highway. Cutting across traffic that was traveling at 45 miles per hour, Oney's vehicle was struck by a 1988 burgundy Ford Taurus station wagon - driven by Susan Johnson Payne of Manteo - that was traveling toward Manteo.
No one has been charged, Terry said. Payne, 29, was taken by ambulance to Chesapeake General Hospital, where she remained in stable condition Wednesday night.
Doctors at the Outer Banks Medical Center examined and released Payne's son, 2-year-old Adam Samuel Payne, who was in a child safety seat.
Oney's other granddaughter, Kristen Rose Kline, was treated at the Outer Banks Medical Center for a minor cut to her upper lip. The 11-year-old from Hilliard, Ohio, was released Wednesday afternoon.
Officials with the Nags Head Fire Department, the Nags Head Police Department and Dare County Emergency Services responded to the accident, which occurred at 1:10 p.m. just west of the Melvin R. Daniels Bridge.
Rescue crews deflated the tires of the Lincoln to stabilize it before prying off the roof and two doors. EMS workers simultaneously treated and untangled the passengers from the vehicle.
Pools of antifreeze leaked from the two cars as fire and rescue workers knelt on the ground to extract Ewing, who was the last person trapped in the vehicle. Nags Head Fire Chief Timothy Morrison said the girl possibly had suffered a broken leg.
Duncan Aydlett, a Kill Devil Hills resident who witnessed the accident from the parking lot of the restaurant, said everything was still attached to the cars when police and firefighters arrived. ``They were smashed up pretty bad,'' he said. ``Especially on the two drivers' sides.''
As employees of Pugh's Car Care Center loaded the Lincoln onto a tow truck, they shoveled pieces of metal, shards of glass and crumpled papers from the car onto the twisted, burgundy velour interior.
Terry said both cars were demolished. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by JENNIFER MCMENAMIN, The Virginian-Pilot
Dare County emergency workers aid victims of a two-car crash
Wednesday on the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway that injured five.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC by CNB