Local

Witnesses describe fatal Iredell County wreck

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A major road in Iredell County is reopened Tuesday night after a deadly crash shut it down for nearly two hours.
 
One woman said her house shook as the SUV overturned several times in her front yard on  Highway 90 that is north of Statesville.
 
One hour after the accident Bruce Turner, a witness, still couldn't believe what he saw along the stretch of highway. 
 
"After it hit the pole, it hit the tree and then it flipped seven or eight times before it came to a rest right there," Turner said.
 
Turner was in a vehicle behind the SUV.
 
He said he got out of his truck, called 911 and tried to help the 61-year-old driver.    
 
The highway patrol said the man who died had drifted across the center line into the path of another car but over-corrected and went off the two-lane highway taking out two power poles.

"The power kind of flicked and then we heard a big boom and then it looked like fireworks going off in the living room," said Teresa Henderson, a witness.
 
Investigators are looking at whether the driver fell asleep or had a medical condition before the wreck.

They don't believe speed was a factor but said the SUV never slowed down, either.  

"(There were) no skid marks," said J.N. Chapman, North Carolina Highway Patrol. "It appears he did not brake. If he did, it was too late."
 
Turner said he wished he could have done more to help.
 
"I just want to send my prayers out to him and his family," Turner said. "After the impact, I immediately started praying for him and his family hoping everything would be OK and he would make it through."
 
The Highway Patrol said the driver was wearing his seat belt. 
 
Troopers are not yet releasing his name and hope an autopsy will provide more clues into why he crashed.