
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 28, 1994                   TAG: 9407280084
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Dan Casey and Lisa Applegate
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SLIPPERY ROADS BLAMED IN CRASH THAT KILLED WOMAN

Heavy downpours and rain-slick roads contributed to a two-car accident on Interstate 81 south of Arcadia on Wednesday afternoon that killed a Maryland woman and injured five people, State Police said.

The wreck occurred at 1:30 p.m. in the highway's northbound lanes near mile marker 167, said Trooper Butch McMurray. A southbound 1987 Ford Escort ran off the road and across the median before spinning into the northbound lanes where it was struck by a 1993 Dodge Spirit.

Police said a passenger in the Dodge, Lois Cline, 61, of Hagerstown, Md., was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Her husband, Howard Cline, 64, driver of the car, was taken to Community Hospital, where he was in stable condition last night, a hospital spokesman said.

Police said Lois Cline died despite wearing a seat belt; her husband apparently was saved by an air bag.

Two other people in the car were admitted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Police identified them as Carl and Laura Roupp, ages unknown, of Pennsylvania. Carl Roupp was in stable condition in the hospital's neuro-trauma progressive care unit, a hospital spokesman said. His wife was in surgery last night.

The driver of the Escort, James Winters, 51, of Mountain City, Tenn., was also admitted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition. His stepson, Dean Heaton, age unknown, was in satisfactory condition, a hospital spokesman said.

Winters was charged with reckless driving, McMurray said.

In another fatal accident earlier Wednesday, a Bedford County man was killed almost instantly after his car struck a tree in Roanoke County.

Harry Watts Rowland, 31, was driving south on U.S. 220 at approximately 7:45 a.m. As he passed through the intersection of Back Creek Road, another car, driven by a juvenile, turned on to 220 from Back Creek and struck Rowland's car.

Rowland swerved, then went off the road and struck a tree.

The other driver's name was not released because of his age, according to Police Capt. J.H. McCorkle. That driver has not been charged, but McCorkle said the accident is still under investigation.

Keywords:
FATALITY

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB