THE U.S. HAS THE DEADLIEST ROADS IN THE WORLD. MORE THAN 40,000 PEOPLE DIE EASY YEAR AND MORE THAN 4 MILLION INJURED. VEHICLES ARE IN FACT MORE DANGEROUS THAN GUNS
Troopers ID Rolesville family of four killed in multi-vehicle crash on I-85
By Andrea Blanford
Thursday, September 20, 2018
WARREN COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Four members of a Wake County family are dead after a four-vehicle crash on I-85, officials said and a truck driver is facing charges.
The crash happened about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
A husband, wife, and two children, all from Rolesville, were traveling south on I-85 in a 2018 Ford Explorer when a four-car wreck involving a tractor-trailer ensued in Warren County.
Officials said all four family members in the Explorer were killed.
On Thursday, the State Highway Patrol identified the victims as Linda Jowers, 47, who was driving, Timothy Jowers, 47, and their children, Brianna Jowers, 10, and Alexander Jowers, 8, all of Rolesville
Traffic was already stopped on the highway for another wreck when the driver of a J.B. Hunt tractor-trailer slammed into the back of the family's SUV, pushing it into a 2015 Ford Van and then underneath another 18-wheeler.
There were also four non-life-threatening injuries that resulted from the crash.
A passenger in the J.B. Hunt big rig, Raymond Kelley, 60, of Hardy, Virginia, was life-flighted to Duke Hospital. The driver, who was treated at a hospital for serious injuries and later released, has been identified as James Pratt, 55, of Goodview, Virginia.
Pratt is charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and reckless driving.
The driver of the van, Michael James Williamson, 60, of Raleigh, received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the other 18-wheeler, Willie Earl Black, 66, of Newport News, Virginia, suffered minor injuries.
Authorities investigating had the road shut down for eight hours after the wreck.
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4 people from the same family, Linda Jowers, Timothy Jowers, Brianna Jowers, and Alexander Jowers from Rolesville died in a fatal Warren County crash on Interstate 85 on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.
The September 19 Warren County crash involved four cars
The fatal accident that killed the Jowers happened when a tractor-trailer crashed into the rear end of a Ford Escape they were traveling in. Four vehicles were involved in the wreck that happened at 4:12 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the interstate, Sgt. Christopher Knox, a Highway Patrol spokesman, said.
The driver involved in the car crash deaths of Linda Jowers, Timothy Jowers, Brianna Jowers, and Alexander Jowers has been charged
The Rolesville residents who died were identified as Linda Jowers, 47, Timothy Jowers, Brianna Jowers, 10, and Alexander Jowers, 8, troopers said.
Troopers said they were charging the driver of the tractor-trailer that was behind the Jowers’ vehicle, James Pratt, 55, of Goodview, Virginia, with misdemeanor death by vehicle and reckless driving.
He was taken to Maria Parham Hospital in Henderson for treatment of what troopers called serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.
The Ford Escape carrying the Jowers had stopped due to a traffic jam on Interstate 85 Allen County
Investigators reported that one of the tractor-trailers, a work van, and the Ford Escape all had stopped for slowed traffic on the interstate between the 226 and 227-mile markers, between Middleburg and the Virginia State Line. Pratt failed to reduce speed before his rig ran into the rear of the Ford Escape, according to the SHP.
The Jowers were forced into a guardrail then another tractor-trailer
The Ford then rammed into the van, and the force of that impact pushed the van off the road. It struck a guardrail before going back onto the road and striking the first tractor-trailer that had been stopped in front of it.