Car Crosses Center Line Into Cyclists in North Carolina, Killing 1 and Injuring 22; Driver, 76, Charged
WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina — A black oncoming car crossed the center line and plowed into a group of cyclists riding along Optimist Farm Road, about 14 miles southwest of Raleigh, on Saturday morning, November 7, killing one rider and injuring 22 others. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the rider who died was Patrick Allen Turner, 63, of Cary.
The Highway Patrol identified the driver as Donald Robert Morris-Jones, 76, of Apex. He did not stop after hitting the group, continued for about half a mile, then ran off the left side of the road into a ditch, where he was taken into custody.
Chief LeRoy Smith of the Holly Springs Fire Department told CNN that first responders found 22 people injured: seven with more serious injuries were taken to regional trauma centers and 15 others were hospitalized. CNN affiliate WRAL put the toll at 20 injured, also with seven seriously hurt and the rest with minor injuries.
Court records show Morris-Jones faces multiple charges, including hit-and-run causing serious injury or death, serious injury by vehicle and driving while impaired. He is being held on a $1 million bond and is due in court on Monday afternoon. CNN reported that he does not appear to have a criminal record, though court records describe him as an overwhelming danger to society, and it was not yet clear whether he has a lawyer.
The riders were with the Capital Cycling Club, based in the Apex area and one of the oldest cycling clubs in North Carolina, whose members frequently ride the route together.
Shaun King of the nonprofit Bike Durham told WRAL it was a harrowing day for the cycling community. Turner and other cyclists killed in crashes are to be remembered at a candlelight vigil on November 15, the local World Day of Remembrance for pedestrians and cyclists killed in crashes. Another club, Team CBC, canceled its Sunday ride out of respect for the rider killed and those injured.
The Highway Patrol is leading the investigation, and the case will move forward through the courts.
Source: North Carolina State Highway Patrol
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：北卡罗来纳州公路巡逻队的州警巡逻车（资料图，非事发现场）。NCDOTcommunications 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。/ Photo: A North Carolina State Highway Patrol cruiser (file photo, not the crash scene). By NCDOTcommunications, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
