CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — A man died after a head-on crash Tuesday on a Catawba County highway, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Troopers said they were called just after 2 p.m. to Startown Road near Settlemyre Bridge Road for a deadly crash.
Investigators believe a 2016 Nissan Frontier was driving on Startown Road when it crossed the center line and crashed head-on with a 2020 Freightliner bucket truck headed in the opposite direction.
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Authorities said they believe the Nissan’s driver, Carl Douglas Ikard, 58, of Vale, swerved to avoid stopped traffic.
Ikard was critically hurt and flown to a hospital in Charlotte, troopers said. He died at the hospital, they said.
The driver of the bucket truck and a 35-year-old passenger inside were not hurt.
Troopers said they don’t believe alcohol impairment was a contributing factor to the crash, and everyone involved was wearing their seatbelts.
Startown Road was closed for nearly three hours during the investigation.
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