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

DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994                   TAG: 9412010069
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-14   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ALLEGHANY SPRINGS                                LENGTH: Short

GUARDRAILS TO BE BUILT WHERE 3 WERE KILLED|

Danny Niday Jr., 2, and Samantha Niday, 7 weeks, were killed Oct. 16 when the car driven by their mother, Bonnie H. Wheat, went out of control and landed upside down in the South Fork of the river. Wheat died the following day.

The state Department of Transportation has decided to install guardrail, not only where the wreck occurred, but along other stretches of the winding, rural road where the river is near the roadway, said David Clarke, an assistant resident engineer at the Christiansburg VDOT office.

State police blamed the wreck on speed. Trooper Eddie Bowen, an accident reconstruction expert, estimated Wheat's car was traveling about 60 mph. The curve where Wheat's vehicle left the road has a posted maximum safe speed of 30 mph, Clarke said. No additional warning signs are planned for the area.

Some preliminary grading work already has been done at the proposed guardrail sites. VDOT has a standing contract with a guardrail company, and once money is available "and they can fit it into their schedule, we'll do it," Clarke said.

Keywords:
FATALITY