Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060140
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER
DATELINE: MONTVALE LENGTH: Short
But just hours later and a few miles away, Martin and Wright came face to face again.
This time the trooper was charging Wright, 53, of Norfolk, with reckless driving for plowing into a backhoe driven by Virginia Department of Transportation worker George Brown.
Brown was airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital where he was treated in the emergency room and remained in stable condition Monday night.
Martin first ticketed Wright at about 8:45 a.m. on U.S. 460 near Bedford after he was clocked at 67 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Five hours later, according to witnesses, Wright was speeding again on U.S. 460 in Montvale when he drove his truck into a slow-moving backhoe driven by Brown.
The backhoe was knocked off the road and into a grassy field, scattering green glass from its shattered windows.
The construction vehicle's orange caution lights were on before it was struck, Martin said.
Brown was working near a crew that was clearing land for the new Montvale Elementary School.
Wright, who works for Bay West Transportation, told police he could not avoid hitting Brown because there was a car in the next lane.
Witnesses told police there were no other vehicles on the road at the time of the crash.
by CNB